The reviews are consistently positive about Central Station, with praise centred on the two leads and the gradual growth of trust between them. Fernanda Montenegro draws particular attention for making the cynical woman’s softening convincing, while her partnership with Vinícius de Oliveira gives a familiar road-film premise its force. Critics also value the barbed humour and Walter Salles’s attention to Brazilian landscapes and everyday life, which give the pair’s journey social substance as well as emotional weight.
The main difference is over sentimentality, rather than the quality of the performances or filmmaking. Time Out finds that Salles avoids it by allowing trust to develop slowly; The Guardian sees an often sentimental redemption story that feels a little too smooth. The spread of opinion is narrow: even the more reserved assessment takes considerable pleasure in the leads, and the reservations qualify the praise rather than overturn it.