For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Where did Mr Rohmer get the money to make such a terrible movie ? A nightmare, from beginning to end, a nightmare of boredom and pretention. All actors speak "fake" (hearing them is unbearable after 3 minutes), the story is stupid (every basic 1pm telenovela has better plot and twist), there is no direction (south of France looks bad for the first time on screen). What's the purpose of all this ? Who wants to spend 2 hours around these uninteresting depressed french semi-intellectuals ? Not me.

Pauline Kael once made the comment that she heard a man say, enthousiastically, "It's so French!" when coming out of a so-so film, and hated the mixture of complacency and cultural one-upmanship contained in the remark. Rohmer appeals to snobs, mainly: people who disdain American films because they are made with big budgets and bankable stars, and the story had better move forward.This is Beatrice Romand's sixth film with Rohmer, Marie Riviere's seventh. By now the octogenarian director has gotten so stuck in the groove with these actresses he can direct in his sleep (I never felt that way with Bergman and Bibi Andersson, or Liv Ullmann). Push the Romand button, you get pouty obstinacy, arms crossed defiantly. Riviere gives you smiling indulgence, matronly charm--she's a sort of June Allyson. This is a really tiresome picture lacking story, characterization, social comment, any of the things I look for in French cinema. Rohmer is like one of those old singers who should have retired years ago, but the fans keep going to the shows because they're afraid to admit they're aging too. Avoid.

I was working on my computer with the tv nearby, and I happened upon a French film on cable. I didn't think I was particularly in the mood to read subtitles, but as I glanced at the screen, bits of the story began to pull me in. Before I knew it, over an hour and a half had passed.I wasn't familiar with any of the actors, which probably made the story of two very good friends and their loved ones even more compelling to me. Now I'd be interested in seeing anything else featuring Marie Rivière or Béatrice Romand. Rivière was engaging as a vulnerable yet capable business woman, and Romand had a quiet and powerful energy as a widow who seems to have retreated into the "safety" of working on her vineyard.Romand made me laugh at times with her moments of "attitude" and temper, and Rivière kept me guessing what was coming next. The story unfolded nicely. I found myself on the edge of my seat much of the time. The story is somewhat of a cautionary tale in some ways, yet very realistic in terms of human nature and relationships.There were some actions and situations I found to be less than appropriate, but in some ways the screenwriter seems to possibly have the same view...This movie is a must-see for people interested in the politics of dating, match-making, romance, and friendship.

Autumn Tale is an interesting, beautiful film. It is far more subtle than an American romance about middle-age love would be. Rohmer's basic premise is that men and women in their 40's or 50's can be interesting, beautfiul, and attractive to other men and women. (Of course, this is obvious, but in Autumn Tale this premise is taken for granted. In a U.S. film the director would have to explain a similar premise.)If I have a criticism of Autumn Tale, it is that all the women--leads, supporting actors, walk-ons, are gloriously beautiful. Surely there are some women (and men) in France who are less than physically perfect. Rohmer has left them out of his film. However, it is hard to complain about the tradeoff of beauty for realism. The actors look great, the countryside of Provence looks great, even the grapes look great!