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Movies / Upcoming / Captain Abu Raed
Captain Abu Raed

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Captain Abu Raed (2008)

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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:21

Rotten:4

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: A poetic and deeply felt debut by director Amin Matalqa, Captain Abu Raed is simultaneously mythic and melodramatic.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 7, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Captain Abu Raed is a universal story of friendship, inspiration and heroism set in contemporary Jordan. Abu Raed is a lonely janitor at Amman’s International Airport. Never having realized his... Captain Abu Raed is a universal story of friendship, inspiration and heroism set in contemporary Jordan.

Abu Raed is a lonely janitor at Amman’s International Airport. Never having realized his dreams of seeing the world, he experiences it vicariously through books and brief encounters with travelers.

Finding a discarded Captain’s hat in the trash at work one day, he is followed by a neighborhood boy who spots him wearing it as he walks home. The next morning he wakes up to find a group of neighborhood children at his door, believing him to be an airline pilot. And thus the friendship begins. Happy for the company and attention, he takes the children to colorful places around the world through his fictional stories and inspires them to believe in their own ambitions.

Murad, an angry outsider to the group, vindictively attacks Abu Raed and the sense of hope he instills in the children. In his quest to prove that Abu Raed is a liar and a fake, Murad begins to discover new possibilities in his life. Meanwhile, Abu Raed’s friendship with Nour, a real female pilot, begins to grow as she deals with her own set of pressures from life in modern Amman.

Captain Abu Raed is the story of everyday people intersecting across social boundaries. It is a story of dreams, friendship, forgiveness, and sacrifice. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Nadim Sawalha

Starring: Nadim Sawalha

Director: Amin Matalqa

Director: Amin Matalqa
Screenwriter: Amin Matalqa

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Reviews for Captain Abu Raed

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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A stealthily powerful drama ... highlighted by a beautiful score and strong performances.

Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | comment Comment
10/23/09
Mike Scott
Mike Scott
Times-Picayune

Gentle, humanistic and suffocatingly sentimental.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
09/16/09
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Matalqa's film shows how the most liberating flights might be those of the imagination.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/16/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

[A] heartwarming drama.

Full Review Source: Memphis Tri-State Defender | comment Comment
09/04/09
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Memphis Tri-State Defender

A moving dramatic fable about an elderly airport janitor's relationship with a bunch of Amman street kids.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
09/04/09
Lee Marshall
Lee Marshall
Screen International

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.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/04/09
Annie Young Frisbie
Annie Young Frisbie
Christianity Today

It's easy to get attached to Captain Abu Raed

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
08/27/09
Norm Schrager
Norm Schrager
Filmcritic.com

Writer-director Amin Matalqa’s debut affirms life, plucks heartstrings, and knows no shame.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
08/27/09
Mark Feeney
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is a loving, sad and tragic film, but a hopeful movie, too.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
08/22/09
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

His journey makes for a complex film that goes beyond the obvious. It, too, travels. And it travels well.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
08/21/09
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An endearing blend of myth and melodrama that forthrightly explores family abuse in its own society.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
08/21/09
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...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.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
08/17/09
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

There's an aura of tension as Abu Raed helps a boy escape from his abusive father. And the location shots of Amman are impressive.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
08/14/09
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mr. Matalqa seems more interested in a wistful atmosphere than in complexity. Mr. Sawalha, a veteran television and film actor, has no trouble creating that.

comment Comment
08/14/09
Neil Genzlinger
Neil Genzlinger
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Eager, earnest and ultimately a little too easy on the conscience, Amin Matalqa’s Jordanian melodrama is social commentary with the gloss of classical Italian drama.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
08/12/09
S. James Snyder
S. James Snyder
Time Out New York

It's a simple story told with dignity and aiming for universal relevance.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
07/24/09
Walter V. Addiego
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Making a polished feature debut after directing shorts at the American Film Institute, Jordanian-born, American-educated Matalqa demonstrates a subtle touch with a well-chosen cast.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
07/03/09
Jeff Shannon
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times

'Captain Abu Raed' could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between new filmmaker Amin Matalqa and discerning moviegoers everywhere.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/28/09
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Nadim Sawalha gives a terrific performance, subtle and complex, and most effective when the camera simply lingers on his face.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
11/12/08
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Amin Matalqa's teary drama, Captain Abu Raed, takes its obvious cues from the neorealism of Satyajit Ray and Jean Renoir, but Matalqa doesn't know how to balance melodrama with quiet moments the way the masters did.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/07/08
Sam Adams
Sam Adams
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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