''Samba'' is a 2014 French

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

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'' and ''The Intouchables'' (2011). Early life Éric Toledano was born on 3 July 1971 in Paris. Olivier Nakache was born on 15 April ...

. It is their second collaboration with actor

Omar Sy Omar Sy (, ff, 𞤌𞤥𞤢𞤪 𞤅𞤭, Omar Si; 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 gaine ...

following ''

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

'' (2012). The film premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

on 7 September 2014. It was released theatrically in France on 15 October 2014, before receiving a limited theatrical release in the United States on 24 July 2015.

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

), he fights to stay in France.

Cast

as Samba Cissé *

as Alice *

Tahar Rahim Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a Franco-Algerian actor. He is known for his starring role as Malik El Djebena in the 2009 award-winning French movie ''A Prophet'' by Jacques Audiard, FBI Agent Ali Soufan in ''The Looming Tower'', Judas in the ...

as Wilson *

Izïa Higelin Izïa Higelin (born 24 September 1990), more commonly known by her stage name Izia, is a French rock singer, guitarist and actress. Her most recent album, ''La Vitesse'', was released in 2022. Early life Izïa was born in Paris on 24 September ...

as Manu *

Hélène Vincent Hélène Vincent (born 9 September 1943) is a French actress and stage director. Career She received a César Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1989 for her role as Madame Marielle Le Quesnoy in ''Life Is a Long Quiet River'' and a nominati ...

as Marcelle *

Liya Kebede Liya Kebede ( am, ሊያ ከበደ; born 1 March 1978) is an Ethiopian-born model, maternal health advocate, clothing designer, and actress. She has appeared on the cover of ''Vogue'' three times. Kebede has served as the WHO's Ambassador for M ...

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 Fr ...

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

Sabine Pakora Sabine Pakora is a French-Ivorian actress. Debut Sabine Pakora studied acting at the ''Ecole supérieur d’art dramatique de Paris'' and ''Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique de Montpellier''. Filmography Theatre References External links ...

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 as the bartender

Reception

The

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wang ...

'' gives the film an approval rating of 61% based on 66 reviews and an average score of 5.9/10. The site'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 a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

'', 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 a 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 based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

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." Jordan Adler gave the film a positive review in ''We Got This Covered'', saying, "The immigrant's struggle is brought to pulsating life in Samba, which works best as an affecting and amusing star vehicle for Omar Sy." 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. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' 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 2010s Arabic-language films 2010s English-language films Films about immigration 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 2010s French-language films Gaumont Film Company films 2010s Portuguese-language films 2010s Russian-language films 2010s Serbian-language films 2014 multilingual films French multilingual films 2010s French films