Customer Reviews

Captain Abu Raed

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a pilot and I love this movie! This film has everything a good film has to have: Good story, good music, a villain, a hero, good acting, no noticeable swearing, a great moral, great photography, etc. I wish more movies were like this! Best kept secret out there.

I saw this screened for over a thousand middle and high school students during the Sundance Film Festival. A foreign film in another language (with English subtitles) might invite trouble among that many energetic kids, but it absolutely captured their attention. There was a lot of excited, positive chatter as they left the theater. It works for people of all ages. Captain Abu Raed is a treat for anyone who enjoys insight into other cultures, a combination of emotions, and a meaningful story. This international educator gives it five stars plus.

I hate to use such a cliche, but this movie pulls my heart strings and plays a somber melody. First of all, the cinematography is amazing. I used to live in Amman and it takes me back in the most pleasingly nostalgic way.

Second, it is not a doddering, ponderous typical Arab film. It moves fairly quickly (a plus for western audiences) and explores a number of characters fairly well. While the abrupt change in tertiary character focus is a little jarring, it is really easy to pick up the flow in the story line.

Above all, you will fall in love with Abu Raed, a sympathetic, admirable character played masterfully by Nadim Sawalha. You feel his humility, his love, his every emotion and you wish you could be with him in every scene. A pioneering film for sure.

When Abu Raed goes around wearing a pilot's hat, a group of children in Amman, Jordan beg to hear about his career and travels. At first, Abu Raed insists that he is no pilot, but eventually, he begins telling children stories about Greece, New York, and everywhere in between to add excitement to their poverty-stricken lives. One of the kids sets out to expose Abu Raed, and he eventually proves the old man is merely a janitor at the airport. Though Abu Raed's stories become discredited, he still tries to improve the lives of some of the children. In particular, he helps to keep one boy in school and protects another one--ironically, the boy who tore his travel stories apart--from physical and psychological abuse.

Considering that this movie was Jordan's first in 50 years, and was done with a pretty small budget, it is a very admirable story. The man playing Abu Raed has acted in minor roles before, but nearly all the children casted are first-time actors from refugee camps. The scenery is one of the film's best assets: just as Abu Raed tries to bring the rest of the world to these children in Amman, the director is presenting Amman to viewers around the world, who may otherwise have not been able to see the city and both its upper and working class districts.

The messages the movie sends out are great: that even a man of small means can create a better life for the people in his community. Moreover, even a poor janitor can enrich his life and the life of others through books, as that's where Abu Raed got the inspiration for his stories. The movie made me tear a little in the end as well. Anyone who enjoys sentimental movies will like this one.

This Jordanian film, nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film division, is the story of an aging widower who is a janitor at the airport in Amman, Jordan. Mistaken by neighborhood kids as an airline pilot, he begins to tell stories of travel and far away places that awe these poor children. The story develops as "Captain" Raed gets to the know the kids and the challenges they are facing at home. What I like about so many foreign films is that they are built on character development not fancy dialogue or non-stop action. They actually make you think about the characters and what's going on in their lives and what the film is trying to say. At the end of the film, it leaves you wondering about some of the characters and what might have happened. Foreign films often do not have nice, neat, tidy endings like American films. There is some ambiguity. This is true of Captain Raed. If slick screenplay and unbelievable CGI's of action are your thing (nothing wrong with that) this will probably not interest you. If you enjoy realistic characters and a good story this is a worth watching. It is also a slice of life and humanity and geography in a country many of us don't know much about - Jordan. Highly recommend.

I bought this movie thinking of a fun, happy, entertaining movie. It is a good film, but full of crude reality that in the end left me brokenhearted and feeling empty.

Not that the tale was empty, in fact is very engaging and has good pace, however I felt there was more to say, there was a void in me that didn't know how to fill in.

I would recommend it for a viewier with a different idea in mind, different than the one I had. If you want to see a drama full of reality, a social reality that will leave you thinking why we can't enjoy life to the fullest and let others have a happy life, in peace? well, then you go for this one.

I gave it four stars because it is well made, but did not meet my own expectations.

This is a poignant and moving film with a twist at the end. It tells the story of three generations of Amman residents and is beautifully acted and edited.
I can't fault the film and await the next production from this talented crew with eager anticipation.

Saw this movie in Washington D.C. over the summer and it is still sticks with me. Everything about this film tells a very human story and should be viewed by everyone.

I saw this Jordanian film over a year ago at a film festival, and have recommended it to many people since then. Until now, it has not been available to the general public, so I'm delighted to see I can now get my hands on a copy. A wonderful and poignant film by up-and-coming director Amin Matalqa. It's won prizes at a number of film festivals for its director and the two lead actors. Looking forward to more by him!

I saw this movie originally at Sundance, where it won the Audience Award. I have since seen it again and again and am overwhelmed each time by the depth of the story, the beautiful cinematography, the wonderful soundtrack and the amazing acting. This is a must see movie. You won't regret it!