From A to B

I won't go into the story to avoid spoilers and because the first reviewer did an excellent short summary. I thought at the beginning that it was going to be only a light "road movie" with some interesting irony and wit (especially the twitter activist character, and "eager to please" whereas towards the end there is some added thought and depth and this given the movie a new, and positive dimension. I found the acting generally good with some exceptions which are more average. Interesting to see how a moderate Arab country like the UAE perceives the divergent situations the Arab world is living in, and how distant lives in those countries can be. A fresh look at also how close our lifestyles are becoming worldwide (except where there is war).

Cinematography wise for an Arabic movie, which I found the greatest factor in the movie, it was made by a professional, Michel Dierickx did an excellent job. The story seems to be genuine from a Middle Eastern point of view, although the dialog wasn't its great factor, which I feel in fact affected the acting roles, Ramy (Shadi Alfons) was maybe the best in acting, his script was fit his role and his character. Youssef or J (Fahad Albutairi) he maintained his amazing humor, his character was a stereotypical rich spoiled Saudi "outside the border", did a fine job in the face expressionism, as of Omar (Fadi Rifaai) I'm sadly disappointed in his acting in general, specially too much drama and sensitivity, However he did pull few time a great job of showing love.

Ali F. Mostafa is never the less is a great director, he worked on many projects including the firs Emirati film City of Life, his choices like appearances of cameo and a real American actress Madeline Zima as Samantha.

The movie had too much Hollywood inputs and technique of humor and fast paste editing, not to say it as negative, but not original. The English language in the script is a factor which i don't like in general, BUT i feel that it was actually a smart decision for two reasons. One, it will be more cheesy and lame if it were to be told in Arabic, the second and i think its the main reason, lot of sexual and inside joke that will sound very offensive, which is not in the English literature.

in conclusion, the movie point out lots of social issue and tried to express it in different point of view. lots of liberal moment and reactions. The movie showed lots of smart subtext in the story and commercially too.

A Movie about three young men who are going in a road trip to honor their dead friend's memory, The Movie's event is about the conflict of thinking in the Arab counties, As they passed by Saudi Arabia, The officer who were searching their Bags, He saw a t-shirt of an English club which means that young man supporting an foreign team instead of supporting a Saudi team, That Drove Him mad as He didn't See the Alcoholic Bottle, Which is forbidden in This country. This movie also shows the conflict between the Arabs and the Israeli. As During The road trip these guys saw two young beautiful ladies, They offered them a help but they didn't want to. and the Egyptian guy right after knowing that they are Israeli He left. They were also discussing the situation in Syria and how people were treated by the armed forces. and how they finally reached their friend's grave to honor his memory. in general the movie was good except of the unnecessary Obscene language.

The film uses a well worn theme of a group of friends making a road trip but who are challenged by a few common "Middle Eastern" problems along the way. It is not well done. The script is poorly written and very superficial, and the acting is at the level of a high school drama production. While this may be some attempt to show "modernization" of privileged youth in the Emirates, it is not a representation of actual life there. Hopefully, there will be better productions from this part of the world in the future!

We had last night been at the Advanced Screening of Ali F. Mostafa's Movie From A to B at the Vox Cinemas at the Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi. It was the first time for me to be at the Vox Cinemas in the Yas Mall and man was it an experience.

The Movie itself is playing in the year 2011 when Omar finds himself still racked with the guilt over the death of his best friend Hady 5 years ago and whose girl he married which was the reason for the the stress they had.

Just days away from the birth of his first child, he decides to take the road trip they never got to take and reaches out to his estranged high school friends Jay (Albutairi) and Ramy (Alfons) who have lost touch since Hady's death to take the road trip in his memory., much to the dismay of his pregnant wife.

Jay, now a playboy / wannabe DJ, and Ramy, an #activist (with 737 twitter followers!), take some convincing, but finally agree to the trip. The boys decide to drive from Abu Dhabi – via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria to arrive in Beirut, on what would have been Hady's twenty-fifth birthday.

Their journey is interesting and you will see quite some places you are familiar with in this flick which is pretty awesome. As well the scenery is partially amazing, specially Jordan. It made me feel during the movie already like "I wanna go there".

The story is told interesting and despite the movie being mainly in Arabic I followed the subtitles well enough to get everything. The movie did not bore me for even a minute.

As a classic Roadtrip Movie with Arabic charm of course things have to go wrong during the trip and they do. A camel gets hit, they get arrested by the Police and so on. I don't want to take away to much of the story here but having as well some political influences about the war in Syria and the difficulties in Lebanon itself at that time is enriching the movie very well and I walked out of the Movie still thinking how horrible the situation in Syria must be.

The Actors had been quite good and specially Fahad who plays Jay/Yousef was brilliant in my opinion and very entertaining. Overall it is an entertaining flick which is giving you a good time in the cinema. It is certainly worth watching and having a good time even if you do not speak native Arabic like me.