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Man Push Cart

EMAILPRINTFilms Philos

Man Push Cart reviews
71
7.2 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Ramin Bahrani

Directed by: Ramin Bahrani

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 8, 2006

Running Time: 86 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Language(s): English / Urdu

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Ahmad Razvi, Leticia Dolera, Charles Daniel Sandoval, Ali Reza, Farooq 'Duke' Muhammad, Panicker Upendran, Arun Lal, and Razia Mujahid

Man Push Cart tells the story of Ahmad (Razvi) a former Pakistani rock singer who ekes out a living selling coffee and donuts to morning commuters from his push cart in Midtown Manhattan. (Noruz Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Bahrani, as director, not only stays out of the way of the simplicity of his story, but relies on it; less is more, and with restraint he finds a grimy eloquence.

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80

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Filmed in less than three weeks, Man Push Cart is an exemplary work of independent filmmaking carried out on a shoestring. Mr. Razvi’s convincing performance is a muted portrait of desolation bordering on despair.

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80

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Man Push Cart, largely the work of newcomers and near-newcomers, is a remarkably disciplined, subtle film that avoids striking a "triumph of the human spirit" note or any other cliché.

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78

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A slow-burn stunner, where nothing much of consequence happens, except life itself.

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75

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

This modern slice of neorealism has been made with a skill, and humanity, that suggests Bahrani may have a "Bicycle Thief" in him yet.

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75

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A fascinating, sad, sometimes quite poetic window into a grueling way of life most of us know little about.

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75

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Quietly heartbreaking.

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75

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A realistic drama about life's uncertainties.

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75

TV Guide Ken Fox

Razvi, once a pushcart vendor himself, is particularly good; he brings a visceral poignancy to a character who comes to represent every desperate soul who ever tried to make it in the land of plenty.

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70

Slate Dana Stevens

If one of the things movies are supposed to do is make you look anew at the world around you, you may never see your doughnut vendor in the same way again.

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70

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is somewhat fuzzy as narrative, but it's a potent mood piece, and its portait of urban loneliness has some of the intensity of "Taxi Driver" without the violence.

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50

Variety Jay Weissberg

An example of spare, slice-of-life indie cinema at its most unpretentious, Man Push Cart adeptly and subtly layers facts about the protag's history and character into his story.

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50

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Man Push Cart is a diminutive film, finally--vying for a neorealist vibe, it lacks the Italian history makers' narrative urgency, and the sociopolitical conflict at the heart of the immigration "issue" is hardly engaged.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

The makers of Man Push Cart seem so dedicated to making a film that defies Hollywood conventions that the finished product lacks enough entertainment value to justify price of admission.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S. gave it an8:
What happens in Pakistan, stays in Pakistan. When Mohammad(Charles Daniel Sandoval) encourages Ahmad(Ahmad Razvi) that he resume his music career, you can imagine the direction in which "Man Push Cart" would go had this film not been an homage to Italian neorealism(there's a specific reason as to why Noemi(Leticia Dolera) is from Barcelona). But this filmmaker knows that you don't crossover from Pakistan. Mohammad isn't naive. He refers to Ahmad as "this Pakistani guy" even though the immigrant is Pakistani himself. "Man Push Cart" nails the peculiar divide that exists between successful and unsuccessful men from the third world. Although "Man Push Cart" seems gratuitous in its need to be unrelentingly downbeat, the film is nevertheless a thoughtful character-driven story about how dogged perseverance in a racially hierarchical society, you suspect, often has no payoff if you don't hail from a westernized society.

Jim C. gave it a1:
To describe this movie as depressing and without any redeeming qualities would be a gross understatment. i saw this with 2 of my sons (age 30 +\-). One agreed with me that this was the worst film ever. My youngest thought the director had managed to capture the complete hopelessness of (clinical) depression. The young Spanish actress is riveting. Everything else is tripe.

Ken G gave it an8:
Sad, haunting, and unlike much of what Hollywood puts out, this feels refreshingly honest.

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