Cairo Time 2009

A.O. Scott, New York Times: If Cairo Time does not amount to much, it does evoke a wistful state of feeling and a complicated city with enough skill and sensitivity that you wish it had dared more. Read more

Lisa Rosman, Time Out: The stakes here remain so doggedly small-scale that they require a patience not everyone will muster (though they should). Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Patricia Clarkson is usually so "on" that it's a surprise to see her play a melancholy, passive woman -- and play her with such airy, elegiac grace. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: [Clarkson] makes yearning palpable. She turns mysterious silences into a language of love. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Clarkson lights up Ruba Nadda's stately drama Cairo Time like the moon on a summer night, making every moment luminous with quiet, resigned longing. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: It's a postcard-lovely movie that, in spite of its best intentions, ends up feeling a little touristy. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The movie isn't sure what, politically or even romantically, it's about. Read more

David Lewis, Houston Chronicle: This is a poetic, romantic, emotionally complex film that sneaks up on you, particularly in its final scenes. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The lovely twilit moments in this movie stay with one, and that summoning them up in your mind is like slowing down time. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's as refreshing as a glass of mint tea. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Cairo Time earns some indulgence for a pace that Westerners may find languid. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: What emerges is time pleasantly spent with a slice of life that examines a romantic detente between two cultures. Like smoke from an Egyptian hookah, the melancholia lingers. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Cairo Time: Take the time to see it. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's a haunting and hypnotic film. And Clarkson's sublimely nuanced performance is in every way transporting. Read more

David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle: Confirms two things that hardly need confirming: The Egyptian capital is a breathtaking metropolis, and Patricia Clarkson is one of the best actors in the world. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: The scenery is enchanting and it's clear Nadda was inspired to make the film from the beauty of Cairo. She and cinematographer Luc Montpellier succeed in fashioning a graceful postcard to the city, but a story, too, would have been nice. Read more

Rob Nelson, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Cairo Time proves hard to resist, the film's familiarity gradually giving way to a playfulness that feels new to the impossible-love subset of bourgeois melodrama. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: What it has going for it, however, is a strong performance from Clarkson, who has become one of the more reliable character actors in independent film. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Though the aim is subtlety, Cairo Time often seems to be making too much of too little. Read more

Alissa Simon, Variety: The fourth feature from Canadian writer-helmer Ruba Nadda ("Sabah") has a slightly breathless, old-fashioned feel, calling to mind the cliched fiction found in the type of ladies' magazine the heroine edits. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: Writer-director Ruba Nadda's emphasis on body language ultimately trumps the clumsiness of her script. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Clarkson proves what her fans have known forever: She's ready for the spotlight. With luck she'll stay there for a while. Read more