Captain Abu Raed Review

 

Stars: 3/5 🌟🌟🌟

Actors: Nadim Sawalha's

Director: Amin Matalqa

Music: Austin Wintory 

Release: 2007

 

Plot

Amin Matalqa directed the drama movie "Captain Abu Raed" in 2007. Abu Raed, an elderly airport cleaner who is mistaken for a pilot by the local kids because of his attire, is the main character of the story. He starts wearing a discarded pilot hat while entertaining the kids by telling them tales of his trips and exploits.

Abu Raed develops a bond with Nour, a disobedient young woman who eventually settles into the area. He finds out from their discussions that Nour wants to leave her controlling family and pursue her ambition of becoming a pilot.

As their connection deepens, Abu Raed takes on the role of mentor for Nour, inspiring her to pursue her goals and educating her about the world outside of their community. However, some of the more conservative members of the community are suspicious of and disapprove of their friendship.

When tragedy strikes, Abu Raed must use all of his knowledge and clout to assist Nour in overcoming her challenges and achieving her objectives. Through their friendship and shared aspirations, Abu Raed and Nour ultimately discover a feeling of contentment.

Review 

For viewers seeking for a story with a faster tempo, the film's slow pacing may be off-putting because it takes its time to investigate the relationships between its characters and develop them. However, the movie does pay off with its moving climax for those who are ready to invest in the characters.

Due to its themes of oppression, loneliness, and loss, the movie unfortunately has a melancholy tone that can be distressing to the audience. It occasionally seems forced and inconsistent how the movie tries to strike a balance between this and its inspiring message of friendship and hope.

Overall, "Captain Abu Raed" is a well-made and sincere movie that is compelling to see because of its motivational message and top-notch acting. But given its plodding pace and even depressing tone, it might not be suitable for everyone. For these reasons I give the film 3 out of 5 stars. 

Outside Review

Nov 13, 2021

"Captain Abu Raed has a sappy, overly complicated and less interesting second half, but the first section is very good, moving and sweet. The central acting performance is terrific as is the protagonist while the story is also solid enough, but everything else was problematic, especially the pacing and clumsy writing in the second half."

This review was written on Rotten Tomatoes by user David I. Overall, I like this person's review. We gave similar ratings.  I enjoyed the central acting performance too; Something I did not mention.