 Meanwhile , Kevin Maher of The Times described Departures as a " verklempt comedy " with wearisome " push @-@ button crying " , though he considered it saved by the quality of the acting , " stately " directing , and " dreamy " soundtrack . Another mixed review was published in The Daily Telegraph , which described the film as a " safe and emotionally generous crowd @-@ pleaser " that was not worthy of its Academy Award . Philip Kennicott wrote in The Washington Post that the film was " as polished as it is heavy @-@ handed " , predictable yet ready to break taboos , immersed in death yet incapable of escaping " the maddening Japanese taste for sentimentality " . In Variety , Eddie Cockrell wrote that the film offered " fascinating glimpses " of the encoffining ceremony but should have had a much shorter run time . Paatsch gave Departures three stars out of five , describing it as a " quaintly mournful flick " that " unfolds with a delicacy and precision that slowly captivates the viewer " but considering some scenes , such as the montage , " needlessly showy flourishes " . Edward Porter of The Sunday Times wrote that the film 's success at the Academy Awards could be blamed on " a case of the Academy favouring bland sentimentality " . 
