"The movie may be set in prewar Japan, but it's pure 1940s Hollywood. There's costume, pageantry, melodrama, the feeling of a sweeping epic without the bother of too much accuracy, equal doses of heartbreak and uplift — not to mention it was filmed mostly in California."

"Spanning two decades and a momentous war, 'Memoirs of a Geisha' displays all the pomp and grandeur of an epic, but you wouldn't call it sweeping.

"Strip away the silk and circumstance, and 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is a titillating tear-jerker about virtue corrupted, and innocence rescued by men of means."

"Alluring beauty, skillful artistry and a desire to delight are among the traditional gifts of the Japanese geisha. They're also fitting descriptions of 'Memoirs of a Geisha,' Rob Marshall's enticing film, based on the best-selling novel of the same name.

"Indeed, in terms of pure beauty, 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is among the most gorgeous films ever created, a breathtaking cherry blossom of a movie, evoking the lovely mysteries of geisha life."

" 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is everything you'd expect it to be: beautiful, mesmerizing, tasteful, Japanese. It's just not very hot.

"What is this film selling? What is its prime attraction? It certainly isn't the story, spasmodic as it is. More it's the sense of a secret world penetrated."

"Pretty as a picture and soulless as a Hollywood producer (OK, admittedly a cheap joke), 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is a lush, lovely snooze-fest about the enigmatic world of Japanese courtesans with their pillows and sashes, discreet smiles and subtle wiles.

"Too long and too much (though a virtual short subject compared to the three-hour exercise in grandiosity that is 'King Kong'), 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is also too little: The masks and makeup, the manners and mores of the geisha universe are never uncovered."