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CAIRO TIMEMovie Reviews
Romantic drama about a woman who travels to Cairo to meet her husband for a vacation but winds up touring the city with his trusted friend instead. Cast:Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig, Tom McCamus, Elena Anaya, Amina AnnabiDirector:Ruba NaddaRelease Date:August 6, 2010DVD Release:November 30, 2010From:IFCRating:PGLength:1 hr 30 min
Cairo Time played in key cities to very good reviews. • John Anderson wrote in New York Newsday, "Patricia Clarkson is usually the best thing about the work she's in, and that certainly includes Ruba Nadda's sweetly obvious 'Cairo Time.' " • And Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote for Cinematical, "...a movie of moments, good ones and bad ones, all coming one after another, just like life." More Reviews Below...
Cairo Time Positive Reviews (34 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Patricia Clarkson is sublime as a lonely diplomat's wife whiling away days in Egypt with the effortlessly elegant Alexander Sidding."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 28 words, 08/26/10
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: MODERATE(cg) "...fails to summon any magic, and this film -- a kind of Middle East version of 'Lost in Translation' -- passes with merely a picturesque tick-tock."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 460 words, 08/05/10
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "It's about taking time, as Juliette, the wife of a Canadian diplomat, lands in Cairo to rendezvous with her husband, who's delayed in Gaza.... affectingly gentle..."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 90 words, 08/06/10
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: VERY GOOD(cg) "Just when you think you know what's coming, the canny writer-director Ruba Nadda ('Sabah') makes sure you won't.... a haunting and hypnotic film."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 141 words, 08/06/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (11 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...delicate, decorous... it does evoke a wistful state of feeling and a complicated city with enough skill and sensitivity that you wish it had dared more."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 693 words, 08/06/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Director Ruba Nadda lets much of the insight and understanding come from watching Clarkson and Siddig watch each other.... well worth the trip."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 08/06/10
John Anderson, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Clarkson is usually the best thing about the work she's in, and that certainly includes Ruba Nadda's sweetly obvious 'Cairo Time.' "(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 328 words, 08/13/10
Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a lovely little postcard of a movie that is at once a poetic travelogue and a contemplation of love and human relationships."(See all of Mary Houlihan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 567 words, 08/20/10
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...the chemistry between the two leads sustains the movie's jet-lagged, heat-dazed spell... 50-year-old Clarkson blushes like a teenage girl with her first crush."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 267 words, 08/04/10
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "Too often, 'Cairo Time' feels like a skin of a story stitched onto a pretty travelogue.... like an earnest but misguided attempt to construct a pyramid out of a mole hill."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 582 words, 10/09/09
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Ruba Nadda mines the same culture-clash themes here as in her underappreciated 'Sabah,' for the savvy notion that adultery isn't only about sex."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 138 words, 10/08/09
KEY CITIES (10 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a gentle, achingly romantic bagatelle from Canadian writer-director Ruba Nadda.... pays lyrical tribute to the beauty and rue of brief encounters everywhere."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 415 words, 08/20/10
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Bittersweet and achingly beautiful... As in David Lean's 'Brief Encounter,' the suspense in Cairo Time comes from what doesn't happen between its pair of 'lovers.' "(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 514 words, 08/27/10
David Lewis, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a poetic, romantic, emotionally complex film that sneaks up on you.... Good things come to those who wait."(See all of David Lewis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 246 words, 08/20/10
Rob Nelson, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "Another stellar performance from indie-film stalwart Patricia Clarkson provides the main reason to see 'Cairo Time'..."(See all of Rob Nelson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 391 words, 08/27/10
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "Clarkson is so lovely you can barely call this assignment acting. Nonetheless, her blend of professionalism and radiance make for a monotonously passive character."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 719 words, 08/20/10
Stephen Whitty, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: VERY GOOD(cg) "Nadda's tale proceeds at its own pace, ignoring full-blooded romance to slowly unfold its potential drama of forbidden love in a forbidding land."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 463 words, 08/27/10
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "The ever-wonderful Clarkson lights up Ruba Nadda's stately drama like the moon on a summer night, making every moment luminous with quiet, resigned longing."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 278 words, 09/03/10
Stan Hall, Portland Oregonian: GOOD(cg) "...doesn't really stand up to scrutiny, but 'Cairo Time' works on an emotional level and is a hassle-free way to sample Egypt."(See all of Stan Hall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 243 words, 08/20/10
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...gets by on atmosphere and, as a travelogue, it has its appeal. But despite the promise of romance, and the presence of a certain sexual tension, the film meanders."(See all of Calvin Wilson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 315 words, 08/27/10
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (8 Reviews)
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...the chemistry between the two leads sustains the movie's jet-lagged, heat-dazed spell... 50-year-old Clarkson blushes like a teenage girl with her first crush."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 267 words, 08/04/10
Brett Michel, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "The sense of place in this low-key love story is so strong that it almost overwhelms the slow dance of these drifting souls and the tranquility of their tentative romance."(See all of Brett Michel's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 143 words, 04/22/10
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Cinematical: VERY GOOD "...won Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto Film Festival... a movie of moments, good ones and bad ones, all coming one after another, just like life."(See all of Jeffrey M. Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 958 words, 05/02/10
Andrew Schenker, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "...little more than a tourist's travelogue, epitomized by payoff glamour shots of the pyramids set off against meditative strings on the soundtrack."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 911 words, 08/01/10
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Ruba Nadda mines the same culture-clash themes here as in her underappreciated 'Sabah,' for the savvy notion that adultery isn't only about sex."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 138 words, 10/08/09
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "Clarkson's emotions prove too opaque, 'Cairo Time's' symbolism is too obvious.... less like floating up the Nile than drifting off to sleep."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 454 words, 08/27/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "In a candidly retro romance, Ms.Clarkson's is a quintessentially modern performance, minimalist in style and maximalist in impact."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 547 words, 08/06/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...delicate, decorous... it does evoke a wistful state of feeling and a complicated city with enough skill and sensitivity that you wish it had dared more."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 693 words, 08/06/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Director Ruba Nadda lets much of the insight and understanding come from watching Clarkson and Siddig watch each other.... well worth the trip."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 08/06/10
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Alissa Simon, Daily Variety: FAIR "...has a slightly breathless, old-fashioned feel... Clarkson and Siddig have no onscreen chemistry despite the romantic settings. It's Cairo that appears to its best advantage..."(See all of Alissa Simon's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 467 words, 09/20/09
Sura Wood, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...little heat or excitement is generated by the film or its attractive stars.... Clumsily directed by Ruba Nadda, who's also responsible for the vapid script..."(See all of Sura Wood's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 575 words, 05/09/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Director Ruba Nadda lets much of the insight and understanding come from watching Clarkson and Siddig watch each other.... well worth the trip."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 08/06/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...delicate, decorous... it does evoke a wistful state of feeling and a complicated city with enough skill and sensitivity that you wish it had dared more."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 693 words, 08/06/10
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "In a candidly retro romance, Ms.Clarkson's is a quintessentially modern performance, minimalist in style and maximalist in impact."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 547 words, 08/06/10
15.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Cairo Time's reviews are separated by an average 15.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Cairo Time (34 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Cairo Time's reviews cover 57.4% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 13,819 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 406 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Cairo Time Coverage, Volume & Length (34 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 4 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Cairo Time's reviews on average broke 4 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Cairo Time's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Cairo Time (34 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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