74
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottThe messiness of the film seems appropriate to its subject, which is the attempt to bring at least a measure of order - and even a touch of grace - to a chaotic and frequently ugly reality.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe film can be rambling and glib, yet it's no mere crime drama. It captures a middle-class French society that looks more humane than ours, but is just as messed up.
- 75The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe best moments of Maïwenn's Polisse, about the dedicated members of a Child Protection Unit in northern Paris, have the same quality, a fly-on-the-wall docu-realism that feels eerily like the real thing.
- Filmmaker-star Maiwenn's socially-minded film is packed with raw, visceral performances from an accomplished cast.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe strange, unsettling juxtapositions, even when mashing up the mawkish and mockery, are full of life.
- 63Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoPolisse has been compared to "The Wire," but beyond a shared interest in the Sisyphean nature of police work, the two are mostly comparable as inverses of each other.
- 60Boxoffice MagazineRichard MoweBoxoffice MagazineRichard MoweActress and director Maïwenn Le Besco (a.k.a. Maïwenn) confounds expectations by drawing together a heart-thumping patchwork of dramas and emotions.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichPolisse builds to one of the most hilariously misguided climaxes ever conceived; let's just say that this soapy symphony of squalor literally doesn't stick the landing.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanIf you're the type who unwinds by watching "The Wire" or "Law & Order: SVU," you might appreciate this grim procedural drama from French actress Maïwenn. There's no denying its power: It took home the Jury Prize at Cannes last year. But for most, Polisse will be tough going.