A Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee from (French) Canada, Monsieur Lazhar is a psychologically perceptive, humanistic tale of adolescent grief, wayward adult yearning, and how emotional healing can often arrive from the most unexpected sources. Anchored by an award-winning lead performance, the understated movie develops slowly, like a Polaroid, into something greater than the sum of seemingly simple parts.



Starring Mohamed Fellag, Monsieur Lazhar is so effective at connecting, no matter its nominal foreign status, because it unfolds in a world that recognizes and embraces complexity and duality, and isn’t dishonest about the piecemeal way in which emotional centeredness is often achieved. There are not writ-large catharses here, but rather honesty and setbacks followed by smaller moments of betterment. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. For more information on the movie, meanwhile, click here. (Music Box Films, PG-13, 94 minutes)