CAPTAIN ABU RAED

CAPTAIN ABU RAED - 2008

RATED - NR but PG/PG-13 for some violence although almost all is off screen.

RATINGS - 13 Amazon (5/5), 5,729 Netflix (3.7/5), 518 IMDB (7.4/10).

THEMES - Relationships, justice.

AWARDS - 15 wins and 3 nominations at various film festivals including winner of AUDIENCE AWARD at Sundance Film Festival.

STORY - 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. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews.  07/18/2010.

LINKS - IMDB & TRAILER, NETFLIX