Captain Abu Raed (2008)
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 34
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 8
A poetic and deeply felt debut by director Amin Matalqa, Captain Abu Raed is simultaneously mythic and melodramatic.
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 5
A poetic and deeply felt debut by director Amin Matalqa, Captain Abu Raed is simultaneously mythic and melodramatic.
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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 589
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Movie Info
Jordanian director/screenwriter Amin Matalqa tells this tale of an elderly airline janitor mistaken for a pilot by the children of his neighborhood who does his best to inject a little imagination into their bleak reality. Abu Raed always wanted to see the world, yet the closest he ever got was talking to travelers as they walked through the airport and reading books about faraway places. The discarded captain's hat he sports gives the local kids the impression that Abu was once a pilot, and
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Cast
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Nadim Sawalha
Abu Raed -
Rana Sultan
Nour -
Hussein Al-Sous
Murad -
Uday Al-Qiddissi
Tareq -
Ghandi Saber
Abu Murad -
Dina Raad-Yaghnam
Um Murad -
Mohammad Quteishat
Hilal -
Nadim Mushahwar
Sameh -
Faisal Majali
Ziad -
-
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All Critics (34) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (8)
Great taste isn't quite the same as great filmmaking, and director Matalqa sometimes lapses into broad humour and even broader melodrama in this generally low-key, wistful tale.
Top CriticA sweet-tempered tale about the power of fantasy and storytelling becomes a starker parable about human connection and personal sacrifice.
Gentle, humanistic and suffocatingly sentimental.
Writer-director Amin Matalqa's debut affirms life, plucks heartstrings, and knows no shame.
His journey makes for a complex film that goes beyond the obvious. It, too, travels. And it travels well.
An endearing blend of myth and melodrama that forthrightly explores family abuse in its own society.
Aan engaging Jordanian film about friendship between generations -- and courage at any age.
...the movie finally can't help but come off as a disappointing missed opportunity.
a genuine find, a humane and compelling movie of scale. Written and directed by Jordanian-American Amin Matalqa, it's a simple tale of airport janitor Abu Raed (Nadim Sawalha), who is mistaken for an airline pilot by the children in his working-class neig
A stealthily powerful drama ... highlighted by a beautiful score and strong performances.
A rare Middle Eastern film that keeps its focus on its characters rather than larger concerns that mirror the region's continuing strife.
Matalqa's film shows how the most liberating flights might be those of the imagination.
[A] heartwarming drama.
A moving dramatic fable about an elderly airport janitor's relationship with a bunch of Amman street kids.
Despite the film's flaws, there's something winsome about Abu Raed in his captain's hat, entertaining kids with visits to cities that exist only in his imagination.
It's easy to get attached to Captain Abu Raed
This is a loving, sad and tragic film, but a hopeful movie, too.
...both the somewhat sentimental tale of a senior citizen making a change in the life of a child and a movie that forges its own path with unexpected developments.
Captain Abu Raed reaches for restrained empathy but cannot hide its bald-faced emotional manipulations and squishy, sentimental core.
Audience Reviews for Captain Abu Raed
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Latest News on Captain Abu Raed
January 28, 2008:
Frozen River, The Wackness Lead 2008 Sundance WinnersThe dust has settled in Park City, and now that the votes have been counted and the hardware's been...
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Foreign Titles
- Capitan Abu Raed (ES)
