Samba (2014 film)

Samba is a 2014 French comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache.^[4][5] It is their second collaboration with actor Omar Sy following The Intouchables (2012).

Samba
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Éric Toledano Olivier Nakache
Screenplay by	Éric Toledano Olivier Nakache
Based on	Samba pour la France by Delphine Coulin
Produced by	Nicolas Duval-Adassovsky Yann Zenou Laurent Zeitoun
Starring	Omar Sy Charlotte Gainsbourg Tahar Rahim Izïa Higelin Isaka Sawadogo Hélène Vincent Liya Kebede Youngar Fall
Cinematography	Stéphane Fontaine
Edited by	Dorian Rigal-Ansous
Music by	Ludovico Einaudi
Production companies	Quad Films Ten Films Gaumont TF1 Films Production Korokoro
Distributed by	Gaumont
Release dates	7 September 2014 (2014-09-07) (TIFF) 15 October 2014 (2014-10-15) (France)
Running time	119 minutes[1]
Country	France
Languages	French Arabic English Portuguese Russian Serbian
Budget	€15.4 million[2] ($16.8 million)
Box office	$39.2 million[3]

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2014.^[6] It was released theatrically in France on 15 October 2014,^[7] and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on 24 July 2015.^[8]

Premise

Samba Cissé (Sy), 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 (Charlotte Gainsbourg), he fights to stay in France.

Cast

• Omar Sy as Samba Cissé
• Charlotte Gainsbourg as Alice
• Tahar Rahim as Wilson
• Izïa Higelin as Manu
• Hélène Vincent as Marcelle
• Liya Kebede as Magali
• Clotilde Mollet as Josiane
• Isaka Sawadogo as Jonas
• Jacqueline Jehanneuf as Maggy
• Youngar Fall as Lamouna
• Christiane Millet as Madeleine
• Sabine Pakora as Gracieuse
• Olivier Nakache as the poney club host
• Éric Toledano as the bartender

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 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."^[9] On Metacritic, 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.^[10] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.^[11]

Peter Debruge of Variety 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."^[12]

However, Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter 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."^[13] Mark Adams from Screen Daily 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".^[14]