Joseph Tomastik Loud and Clear Reviews Nov 3, 2024 4.5/5

To my knowledge, there has never been a story that better shows how powerful the holiday in and of itself is than Joyeux Noël.

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Shubhra Gupta The Indian Express Apr 26, 2019

[Merry Christmas] underlines all that unites us at a time when all seems to separate us.

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Rick Groen Globe and Mail Dec 14, 2014 3/4

Unfolding slowly, then building in momentum like the hymns themselves, this entire sequence is tremendously affecting.

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Simon Crook Empire Magazine Dec 14, 2014 3/5

A vivid, quietly powerful recreation of a truly extraordinary moment in history: just not an overwhelmingly moving one.

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Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard Dec 14, 2014

It isn't exactly All Quiet on the Western Front or Oh! What a Lovely War. What it lacks is proper finesse.

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David Stratton At the Movies (Australia) Dec 14, 2014 2.5/5

It is such a wonderful story and I think it's a rather prosaic treatment that it's been given.

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Margaret Pomeranz At the Movies (Australia) Dec 14, 2014 3.5/5

It's a film with great humanism and if it's a little light on true drama or even realism it's intentions are honourable.

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Melissa Levine New Times Dec 14, 2014

Except for a few missteps, the movie is so beautifully and sensitively rendered in its particulars, in its characterizations of soldiers and officers, and in its dramatization of a nearly miraculous event, that the result is an affecting piece of cinema.

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James Christopher The Times (UK) Dec 14, 2014

The horror of the war, and the startling dignity of these mud-spattered soldiers, will doubtless thaw stony hearts. But the drama is as conventional as a ham sandwich.

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Christopher Borrelli Toledo Blade Dec 14, 2014 2/5

Without an interesting point of view attached but tons of nobility to go around, it's not hard to be left with the feeling these soldiers stopped shooting at each other because, well, "Silent Night" is such an excellent song.

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Richard von Busack MetroActive Dec 14, 2014

Christian Carion's account of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 is sentimentalized, but smooth, with the elegant restraint typical of the most romantic French films.

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Bob Mondello NPR Dec 14, 2014

You can't watch this film without thinking about modern wars and about how much easier it is to demonize a foe when language and customs are more at odds.

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Craig Outhier Orange County Register Dec 14, 2014 A-

For all their friendship and yuletide charity, the men must return to battle, and the miracle of Christmas does little to alter the course of war. By the end of it, they must decide if they've witnessed their own grand illusion.

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Edward Johnson-Ott NUVO Newsweekly Dec 14, 2014 3.5/5

Joyeux Noel is a fascinating piece of work that manages to be moving without becoming maudlin.

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Matt Soergel Florida Times-Union Dec 14, 2014 3/4

A compelling war-what-is-it-good-for? film, a simple, empathetic story based on a real event.

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Fenella Kernebone sbs.com.au Dec 14, 2014 3/5

Not quite the searing tale about the tragedy of war that it could have been.

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Christy Karras Salt Lake Tribune Dec 14, 2014 3/4

The scenes portray a sense of innocence made all the more affecting by the fact that we know the war went on for years afterward, and a good (and true) example of why we'd fight a lot fewer wars if regular people made those decisions.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Dec 9, 2013 3/5

It is strongly and competently told, and the poignancy of warriors stricken by the sound of Stille Nacht floating across the trenches still has the power to move.

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Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Aug 30, 2009

Insipid manipulation masquerading as (and giving a bad name to) humanism

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Mattias Frey Boston Phoenix Apr 23, 2009 2.5/4

Despite maudlin moments, however, it musters its fair share of irony. The film may be a Euro pudding, but it's tastier than most.

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