A Christmas Tale

A beautifully cast, tragic-comic ensemble piece in which an extended family gathers for the title holiday, Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale is an intricate, accomplished patchwork of sometimes nutty, but always believable human behavior.
– – Desplechin´s ambitious widescreen tale overflows with inescapable emotion, served both raw and endlessly reheated.
– – Although Desplechin takes visual delight in framing his characters and juggling elaborate social geography, this is a talky affair and some delectably fortright dialogue illuminates many scenes.
– – Hostile yet jovial chats between Junon (Deneuve) and Henri (Amalric) are standouts.
– – Desplechin finds that change is possible in A Christmas Tale, lending a perverse buoyancy to the proceedings.
– LISA NESSELSON, SCREEN DAILY