This movie got dismissed by many reviewers for things that might be very true. The musical score might be terrible. I don't know. But I think that the charge that the script is trite and predictable is not a charge that I would level at it. The flim comes from Jordan, and the city scape of Amman is breath-taking. If you are unfamiliar with the place, you should see this movie for that alone.
Our hero is Abu Raed. He has lost his wife, his child, and his will to do much more than his daily job as a janitor at the local airport. One day he finds a captain's hat, he wears it home, and he transforms himself into the neighborhood story teller, the man who travels the world and brings it back to the children who live around him.
The part of the story that is not so typical of Western stories is that of who Abu Raed choses to make a difference with. The boy who adores him or the boy who challenges him? The does make an attempt to help each of them, but the boy who idolizes him has a father who has very different plans for his son than an education--while this is not what Abu Raed would want for him, he does not interfere with that father's plan. The boy who challenges him is living in an abusive home he does intervene with. That boy might not make it to adulthood, that boy's father has lost the morale high ground to choose for that boy, and Abu Raed puts his life on the line to change that boy's life. It is a story with much sadness, both within and all around it, but there is more than that, and I would recommend it.
Out of curiosity .... why "might" the score be terrible? What was your specific opinion of it?
ReplyDelete@Austin--Ok, to start with I thought the music fit the movie, which is my major criteria for music in movies--I did not think it was terrible! I am a rank amateur viewer, with a psychiatrist's eye for story, and so I feel unable to counter 'the critics' on the the score of the score.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the reviews for this movie over all were very ungenerous. I did not think it seemed like a hackneyed plot. I thought it was bittersweet in many ways that resonated as true, dealt with issues related to life in the Middle East in a way that wasn't too heavy handed or judgmental. Additionally, I loved the ancientness of Annam, the relationship depicted between Abu Raed and Noor.
I like to watch a movie having read none of the reviews, and then if I want to write about the movie, I read reviews of what other people thought. This one seems to have appealed to viewers far more than to the pros.
I appreciate your comments Catherine ... to play devil's advocate a bit, you sort of sidestepped my question. Why did you mention the score (and only the score) in such a way if not out of an inkling of agreement?
ReplyDeleteFor the record I'm not baiting you into an argument. I feel very good about the score (and besides, it was 3 years ago and I've thoroughly moved on). Just curious because of the way you framed your review....