--- title: "Central Station: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/central-station/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/central-station" critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Central Station (1998): what the critics said Critics' score 82 from 7 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Central Station, with praise centred on Fernanda Montenegro’s performance as Dora and the gradual development of her bond with the boy. The reviews repeatedly credit the lead performances with making the characters’ loneliness, suspicion and growing affection convincing. Walter Salles’s attention to Brazilian life and landscape also draws praise: the journey gives the central relationship a wider social setting, while the restrained storytelling makes familiar road-film and redemption themes feel closely observed. The differences concern how fully the emotion works, rather than any broad disagreement about the film’s merits. Several critics find that Salles avoids sentimentality, while The Guardian detects a more sentimental approach and some contrivance. Variety offers the clearest reservation about the emotional payoff, admiring the performances and craft but finding the film short of full catharsis. The spread remains fairly narrow, from qualified appreciation to strong enthusiasm. ## Los Angeles Times — Kevin Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 1998. The critic describes the film as beautiful and wrenching, belonging to the grand humanist tradition with profound scope and vision. It singles out Fernanda Montenegro's portrayal of Dora as one of the year's finest performances, especially in the transcendent climactic sequence. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-nov-25-ca-47454-story.html) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 1998. The critic finds the film beautifully observed and stirring, with the wonder lying in its telling rather than sentimentality. It singles out Fernanda Montenegro's bravura performance as the cynical letter-writer whose bond with the boy profoundly changes both characters, alongside the strong sense of Brazil's rural landscape. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/20/movies/film-review-a-journey-of-hope-and-self-discovery-for-two-hard-bitten-souls.html) ## The New Yorker — David Denby Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 23 November 1998. The review calls the film moving and better than the clichés it might evoke, praising it as shrewd, tough, and observant with a bighearted emotional quality rare in American movies. It highlights the convincing shift from negation to guarded optimism and the intimate epic quality of the journey through Brazil's landscape. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/11/30/leaving-rio) ## Empire — Caroline Rees Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 1998. The critic praises this poignant road movie for its engaging odd-couple relationship between a cynical retired teacher and an orphaned boy, along with insights into Brazilian underbelly life and strong performances. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/central-station-review/) ## Radio Times — Jason Caro Rating 4/5. This captivating Brazilian road movie offers compelling viewing through the gradual softening of the initially selfish lead character. It singles out the director's documentary-like filming for stunningly capturing an unglamorous land from the perspective of two uncertain travellers. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-6qbffm/central-station/) ## The AV Club — Joshua Klein Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 23 April 2002. The critic finds that Walter Salles turns familiar tropes of orphan stories, road movies and redemption arcs into something special. The two lead performances, especially Fernanda Montenegro's depth and honesty as the cynical letter-writer, and the film's sensitive capture of loneliness and human connection stand out. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/central-station-1798197360) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 February 1998. Festival review. The review sees it as a sensitive, melancholy Brazilian road movie that is affecting and pointedly unsentimental in portraying the grudging relationship between Dora and Josue. It praises the performances and technical craft but notes it falls short of full emotional catharsis. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/central-station-1200452950/) ## Sight and Sound — Nina Caplan The film makes a virtue of the road movie's common failing by turning a journey of self-discovery into an intimate and eloquent microcosm of Brazilian life. It singles out the central relationship between the cynical letter-writer Dora and the boy Josué for its portrayal of redemption and community. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/48) ## The Guardian 13 August 2025. The critic describes the film as a big-hearted road movie about redemption that boasts stellar lead performances. They single out the strong central turns from Fernanda Montenegro and Vinícius de Oliveira for praise while noting some unashamed sentimentality and a glib final twist. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/13/central-station-review-walter-salless-big-hearted-brazilian-road-movie-boasts-stellar-performances) ## Time Out — GM 10 September 2012. The film works well as a part-travelogue, part-neo-realist fable because the director refuses to overplay the sentimentality. It singles out the hardened, cynical characters of the boy and the older woman whose mutual distrust slowly breaks down. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/central-do-brasil) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray 19 January 2001. The critic praises director Walter Salles for avoiding sentimentality in this story of a cynical letter-writer who reluctantly aids a young boy searching for his father. Fernanda Montenegro's truthful performance and the film's shift into a road movie are highlighted as sources of its emotional reward and cinematic dazzle. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/central-station-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/central-station.md