Fresh
You'll end up baffled that a film built on such shaky foundations can end up being so impossibly sweet.
David Jenkins, Time Out
Amreeka
Life's best adventures are journeys of the heart.
2009 · 1h 36m · PG-13
Drama
Directed by
Cherien Dabis
Overview
Eager to provide a better future for her son, Fadi, divorcée Muna Farah leaves her Palestinian homeland and takes up residence in rural Illinois -- just in time to encounter the domestic repercussions of America's disastrous war in Iraq. Now, the duo must reinvent their lives with some help from Muna's sister, Raghda, and brother-in-law, Nabeel.
Director and cast
- Cherien Dabis Director
- Nisreen Faour as Muna Farah
- Melkar Muallem as Fadi Farah
- Hiam Abbass as Raghda Halaby
- Alia Shawkat as Salma Halaby
- Jenna Kawar as Rana Halaby
- Joseph Ziegler as Stan Novatski
- Yussuf Abu-Warda as Nabeel Halaby
- Selena Haddad as Lamis Halaby
- Amer Hlehel as Samer
- Suheila Muallem as Jamie
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
87%
Tomatometer
Rotten
Writer-director Cherien Dabis too easily resolves or dismisses the characters' problems, making way for an upbeat ending.
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
Fresh
A feel-good comedy about a Palestinian mother who moves to rural Illinois with her teenaged son, Amreeka is a kind of stealth political film that confronts issues of ethnic tension and American xenophobia.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
Fresh
Amreeka makes its points with gentle humour and engaging performances -- especially Faour, who makes Muna so likeable it's impossible not to cross your fingers and hope her luck is about to change.
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
Fresh
Director Cherien Dabis' debut feature is a surprising, humorous, moving and very human story about a Palestinian family's emigration to Illinois on the eve of the Iraq war.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
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