''Samba'' is a 2014 French

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film co-written and directed by

Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache are French filmmakers, best known for directing the films '' Those Happy Days'' (2006) and ''The Intouchables'' (2011). Early life Éric Toledano was born on 3 July 1971 in Paris. Olivier Nakache was born on 15 ...

. It is their second collaboration with actor

Omar Sy Omar Sy (, ; born 20 January 1978) is a French actor, best known in France for his sketches with Fred Testot on the '' Service après-vente des émissions'' television show on Canal+ (2005–2012). He gained wider recognition for his role in the ...

following ''

The Intouchables ''The Intouchables'' (, ), also known as ''Untouchable'' in the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia, is a 2011 French buddy comedy-drama film written and directed by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. It stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy. The plo ...

'' (2012). The film premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on 7 September 2014. It was released theatrically in France on 15 October 2014, and received a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on 24 July 2015.

Premise

Samba Cissé, a migrant from Senegal to France, works as a dish washer in a hotel. After a bureaucratic slip-up lands him in detention, he is ordered to leave France. With the help of a businesswoman, he fights to stay in France.

Cast

as Samba Cissé *

Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British and French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress and singer Jane Birkin and French singer Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the ...

as Alice *

Tahar Rahim Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a French actor. His breakthrough performance was in the 2009 French film '' A Prophet'', for which he won the César Award for Best Actor and Most Promising Actor. He then starred as FBI agent Ali Soufan in t ...

as Wilson * Izïa Higelin as Manu *

Hélène Vincent Hélène Vincent (born 9 September 1943) is a French actress and stage director. Career She made her on-screen debut in 1969, with the movie ''Pierre et Paul'', directed by René Allio. A couple of years later, she had roles in prominent produc ...

as Marcelle *

Liya Kebede Liya Kebede (; born 1 March 1978) is an Ethiopian-born model (person), model, maternal health advocate, clothing designer, and actress. She has appeared on the cover of ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' 20 times. Kebede has served as the World Health ...

as Magali *

Clotilde Mollet Clotilde Mollet is a French actress. Theatre Filmography References External links * * French film actresses 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses Actresses from Paris Living people French stage actresses F ...

as Josiane * Isaka Sawadogo as Jonas * Jacqueline Jehanneuf as Maggy * Youngar Fall as Lamouna * Christiane Millet as Madeleine * Sabine Pakora as Gracieuse *

Olivier Nakache Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popul ...

as the poney club host *

Éric Toledano Éric eʁikis a French masculine given name, the equivalent of English Eric. In French-speaking Canada and Belgium it is also sometimes unaccented, and pronounced "Eric" as English with the stress on the "i". A notable French exception is Erik Sat ...

as the bartender

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 61% based on 67 reviews, with an average score of 5.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Samba'' isn't the finest effort from directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, but the film's shortcomings are partly balanced by its big heart and talented cast." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 53, based on 22 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale. Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film "A highly polished, widely appealing big-budget French movie." He praised Sy's performance, writing, "If nothing else, the pic cements Sy's position as one of France's most magnetic screen personalities, even more compelling to watch in serious scenes than in the obligatory comedic bits." However, Jordan Mintzer of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' criticized the film's plot: "The film's message is lost amid too many plot contrivances." He concluded that it is "another crowdpleasing social dramedy from the makers of ''Intouchables'', though one that wears out its welcome without bringing its message home." Mark Adams from ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' in his review said that it is a "well-meaning and occasionally joyous film that is ultimately too scattershot in its format and tone to really work".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samba 2014 films 2014 comedy-drama films 2014 multilingual films 2010s Arabic-language films 2010s English-language films 2010s French films 2010s French-language films 2010s Portuguese-language films 2010s Russian-language films 2010s Serbian-language films English-language French films Films about immigration to France Films based on French novels Films directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano Films scored by Ludovico Einaudi Films shot in Paris French comedy-drama films French multilingual films Gaumont (company) films TF1 Films Production films English-language comedy-drama films