StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Syl Audrey Tatou has a small role in this multi-language film as Martinez, Xavier's Parisian girlfriend. Xavier will spend a year in Barcelona, Spain. It turns out to be an unforgettable surrounded by his six roommates from London, England (Wendy); a lesbian; and others. The location shots are magnificent all around the city. The cast is perfect for their roles. It turns out to be an unforgettable year for Xavier filled with happiness and sorrow. Xavier and his roommates have an incredible time. There are plenty of funny and serious moments like when Wendy's London boyfriend, Alistair, pays a surprise visit. The group go out of their way to stop him from finding Wendy in bed with an American guy. If you have spent time abroad in Europe, you will enjoy the film.

n-mo Whether you like this movie depends on several factors: first, understanding and appreciation of the various idiosyncratic stereotypes of contrasting European nations and the different microcultures therein, because nearly all the humor and conflict in the movie turns on these points, and second, your tolerance threshold for pieces that rely on stage or screen ambiance to make up for weak plots, because the filmmakers are definitely betting on their ability to sell ambiance and don't even try to present a decent plot.On the first point, I definitely "got" the subtle contrasts and jokes of the various nationalities, though I didn't find them to be particularly "funny." Maybe the problem was that I didn't grow up in Europe and my prior knowledge of the various reference points such as the Castilian vs. Catalan or Walloon vs. Fleming tensions had been gleaned from books. Or maybe it was that the various nationalities were not appropriately incarnated in any form beyond shallow stereotypes (more on that below).On the second point, I will definitely grant that the thrill of watching good characters, setting and atmosphere can make up for a soggy story. The problem was that I had a hard time getting into the ambiance. The characters - including the main character Xavier - weren't people I could relate to. The personalities aren't explored very deeply and the conclusion for Xavier is just totally Deus ex Machina, not simply plot-wise (that would be excusable) but character-wise as well. When they roommates in this apartment - each of a different European nationality - are among themselves, their cultures really aren't delineated beyond a couple of light stories and various mother tongues and accents: they're all drawn on that predictable clichéd Bourgeois Bohemian wrap and the atmosphere in their apartment isn't much more interesting than a typical cannabis light-up.Neither is the atmosphere outside particularly captivating, at least not to me. Erasmus fanatics or hipster types might gawk at the Barcelonian backdrop. To me, Barcelona isn't a particularly beautiful or inspiring city, and while it does have its lovely spots, the film steers focuses a lot more on the BoBo and Eurocratic trappings that, again, a Bourgeois Bohemian might well LOVE, but which I simply cannot relate to.Back in 2006-07 I uncharitably described this movie as something like "pornography for International Relations students." I have mellowed somewhat with age, but I think that judgment is not totally inaccurate, at least judging from the reactions and the demographics of the sorts of people who liked this movie. The ending seems to suggest a sort of idealization of European unity in the form of the E.U. and an irreversible mixing of the various European hipsters. But international relations is more than learning to party with people of a different mother tongue without offending them, I'm afraid. If this is the future of a united Europe, we might want to rethink our approach.

leplatypus Thanks Mr. Klapish and Romain for this sweet movie (and its sequel) because if i want to talk me about me, i just have to recommend it: same name, same job in Treasure Ministry, same experience abroad with European fellows, same passion for writing, same confusion about romances, same feeling about not understanding how world spins.I can't say how personal the story is personal to the director but it speaks true about trips (it's about leaving what you know and going in the unknown), about arrivals (maps, accommodation, marking the streets, decorating your room with pictures), about romances abroad (a way to have new ones)...As in the sequel, the director isn't boring because it adds a lot of funny moments and innovative storytelling with a perfect voice-over from Romain.I never been too much attracted to Spain but the last two movies I saw happened there and were very personal for me. Is it an omen?

H. "When you first arrive in a new city, nothing makes sense. Everything's unknown, virgin... After you've lived here, walked these streets, you'll know them inside out. You'll know these people. Once you've lived here, crossed this street 10, 20, 1000 times... it'll belong to you because you've lived there. That was about to happen to me, but I didn't know it yet."The quote is when I decided that I'm going to love this movie, 10/10 kind of love. The premise looked really interesting and promising, I already liked the way the movie was made (camera work etc.), and quotes like that are gems that I love to find and that I don't find often. It felt very refreshing and quite original too - maybe someone has, but I haven't seen many movies with similar premise and everything, if any.I wish the whole movie could be like its first 15 or even 30 minutes (I don't look at the clock when a movie is that good, so I don't know when exactly it went all wrong). In fact I'd love to see a movie that would follow this movie's premise and first scenes.Sadly, it soon becomes a movie about mostly everyone sleeping with everyone (which, most of the time, is also everyone cheating on everyone), getting drunk/high and having no real goal in life. It gets so shallow that it becomes almost unwatchable and the main character, so promising at first, becomes the most despicable of them all. I wish I could give it a 10/10 for the beginning and 0/10 for the rest, but 2/10 has to do - there's no 0/10, so 1/10 is for everything else, and the good part gets one point.