Very disappointing - this could've been great. The story itself had enormous potential - but at every point where subtlety is called for, the director instead opted to go over the top. The key characters are carefully introduced early on, and - where the audience should have been allowed to gradually get to know them, and learn about them in a somewhat life-like fashion - we are instead told (usually visually, through very slightly exaggerated gestures and mannerisms), in a very didactic fashion, their strengths and flaws immediately. This isn't bad acting - it's talented actors being directed poorly, and I thought it did a disservice to a great story.
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
One major gripe: the cultural misunderstanding between Maryam and Ali - established early on - was a bit unreal to me: though Maryam's family was thoroughly Americanized, it would've been discussed before Ali's arrival that he would have to make huge adjustments to a new home, and that some semblance of respect and patience would be necessitated. I can't imagine a family going so blindly into such a situation, and expecting things to smoothly work themselves out.
To me, the real heart of the story was the bigotry the family experienced in the wake of the Embassy hostage-taking. The directors' inclusion of news footage was a good move, though a bit overused, in introducing this element.
The handling of Ali is yet another issue - a provocative character, a great departure point for an honest exploration of how American culture is viewed by the rest of the world, and what it does to an immigrant's sense of identity. The contrast between scenes of Ali praying, and the Armin family's secularism should've been the departure point for an examination of the value of hanging onto minority traditions, or the occasional pragmatic necessity of modifying or abandoning them. Instead, he seemed like a cartoon character - nothing but exaggerated accents, shrugs, and stares. The Ali-centric plot contrivances during the last 3rd of the film really took this dangerously close to movie-of-the week territory.
Ultimately I feel so critical of this film because I think this story is very intensely relevant today, and the seeds of a masterpiece of both cinema and human observation are to be found here. But I also feel that there is so much here that should've been explored in greater detail, and the subject matter deserves something great.
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
One major gripe: the cultural misunderstanding between Maryam and Ali - established early on - was a bit unreal to me: though Maryam's family was thoroughly Americanized, it would've been discussed before Ali's arrival that he would have to make huge adjustments to a new home, and that some semblance of respect and patience would be necessitated. I can't imagine a family going so blindly into such a situation, and expecting things to smoothly work themselves out.
To me, the real heart of the story was the bigotry the family experienced in the wake of the Embassy hostage-taking. The directors' inclusion of news footage was a good move, though a bit overused, in introducing this element.
The handling of Ali is yet another issue - a provocative character, a great departure point for an honest exploration of how American culture is viewed by the rest of the world, and what it does to an immigrant's sense of identity. The contrast between scenes of Ali praying, and the Armin family's secularism should've been the departure point for an examination of the value of hanging onto minority traditions, or the occasional pragmatic necessity of modifying or abandoning them. Instead, he seemed like a cartoon character - nothing but exaggerated accents, shrugs, and stares. The Ali-centric plot contrivances during the last 3rd of the film really took this dangerously close to movie-of-the week territory.
Ultimately I feel so critical of this film because I think this story is very intensely relevant today, and the seeds of a masterpiece of both cinema and human observation are to be found here. But I also feel that there is so much here that should've been explored in greater detail, and the subject matter deserves something great.