Sundance. "Amreeka"

By David Hudson on 01/21/2009

"From the West Bank to White Castle flips the resilient heroine of 'Amreeka,' a culture-clash dramedy whose background in Middle-East conflict is leavened with vibrant energy, balanced politics and droll humor by first-time feature director Cherien Dabis," writes Rob Nelson in Variety. "Enormously appealing turn by earthy Nisreen Faour in the lead role of Muna, a Palestinian single mother who brings her teenage son to rural Illinois in pursuit of a brighter future, more than makes up for the film's familiarities."

"There's so much to like about 'Amreeka,' including a winning lead performance, and a rare and clearly personal exploration of how it feels to assimilate in a country where your national origin makes you automatically suspect." Noel Murray at the AV Club: "And because of its extraordinary promise, I found the movie's reliance on simplistic conflicts and crowd-pleasing resolutions deeply disappointing."

Updated through 1/25.

"Dabis directs 'Amreeka' with a sure hand which takes the film beyond the clichés and sentimentality of the standard immigrant saga," writes David D'Arcy in Screen. "Born in Jordan, she grew up in rural Ohio where her father was a doctor. The America which Muna and [her teenage son] Fahti encounter is a complicated place - a land of racial profiling and provincialism, yes, but also of goodness and generosity."

"The film is terrific, especially since American immigrant stories like 'Amreeka' have been playing in Park City for years," writes the Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt. Dabis "has thoroughly re-energized the genre with refreshing wit, honest emotions, incisive observations and a perfect cast she literally flew around the world to find. What's more, this is a thoroughly professional indie film; no allowances need be made for rough production values or budgetary shortcomings."

"This past November, the country that Arabs call 'Amreeka' proved that it's not what it had appeared to be," writes Dabis in Moving Pictures. "And, in doing so, it surprised the world by ushering in a whole new era - the era of hope. It is in this era that my first feature film, Amreeka, will make its debut. Though it was conceived during troubled times, much like Obama's presidency, it was born out of a desire for change and the hope for something better."

Dabis answers Filmmaker's query as to how the story was "shaped by the social, technological and economic forces affecting cinema today."

Interviews with Dabis: Kristin McCracken (Tribeca) and Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times).

Update, 1/23: "Whenever 'Amreeka' focuses on Muna's plight, it soars," writes Bilge Ebiri at Screengrab: "From the way in which she feels like a burden to the relatives who've opened up their home to her, to her ignorance at some of the social mores of middle-class America, I feel like I've seen this person before, in real life. Dabis gets her exactly right, and that is to her eternal credit. Alas, the rest of the story starts to fail her right quick."

Update, 1/25: "At the heart of Amreeka beats an irresolvable conundrum," blogs Scott Foundas: "that a nation founded by immigrants can be so narrow-mindedly conformist. Yet, given every opportunity for self-pitying ACLU hand-wringing, Dabis keeps the film's tone buoyant and light, making a fine comedy of deception out of Muna's efforts to convince her family she actually works in a bank, and laying the groundwork for a gentle, not-quite romance between Muna and the Jewish principal of Fadi's school. When most filmmakers want to say something important about cultural conflicts, they labor to bring tears to our eyes. Dabis, by contrast, makes us laugh at ourselves and, in turn, each other."

[Photo: "Amreeka," First Generation Films, 2009]

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Tags: Amreeka, Cherien Dabis, Nisreen Faour, Sundance 2009