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Operation Filmmaker

EMAILPRINTFirst Run/Icarus Films

Operation Filmmaker reviews
69
N/A User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 11 critic reviews
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Based on 0 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary

Written by: Nina Davenport

Directed by: Nina Davenport

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 4, 2008

Running Time: 95 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Muthana Mohmed, Liev Schreiber, Elijah Wood, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

When Hollywood gives a young Iraqi film student the opportunity of a lifetime, nothing goes according to plan, and the result is an engaging, sometimes comical political parable about do-gooder intentions gone wrong. (First Run/Icarus 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...

83

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Operation Filmmaker takes a thrilling left turn from its original conceit, and Davenport does a nice job rolling with the punches.

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83

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The film's parallels between Mohmed's travails and the Iraq war are forced, but overall this is a fascinating odyssey that never plays out in ways you would expect.

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75

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Operation Filmmaker is eventually about Muthana blackmailing Davenport by withholding access to him as she fruitlessly seeks a happy ending for her film. "Now, I'm just looking for an exit strategy," she finally concludes.

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75

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

For all her own frustrations, Davenport is honest enough not to gloss over the fact that what Muthana's adventures in the screen trade taught him was to hustle, toady and ingratiate himself to useful people. And she helped.

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75

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

This gut punch of a documentary will knock you for a loop. File it under "no good deed goes unpunished."

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75

Boston Globe Ty Burr

It spreads the punishment around, from the executive suites of Hollywood to the mean streets of Baghdad. Everyone here comes out smelling bad - that's why the film's so good.

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70

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Operation Filmmaker doesn't quite shake out as a microcosm of the American-Iraq relationship, although Davenport cheekily toys with the conceit. But the movie is endlessly resonant.

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60

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Although Ms. Davenport pushes the analogy between this modest rescue operation with America’s invasion of Iraq a bit too forcefully, she nonetheless makes her point with persuasive, touching candor.

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60

Village Voice J. Hoberman

A fable for our reality-TV reality, Nina Davenport's Operation Filmmaker is as much virus as video documentary. This essentially comic tale maps a contagion of mutual exploitation that seems to have burnished the careers of everyone involved.

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60

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Davenport herself seems stunned by how complicated the story turns out to be, which just makes her movie all the more worthwhile.

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60

Variety Eddie Cockrell

Picture raises pithy questions sure to provoke animated discussions pro and con. Credit Davenport for a mostly unbiased presentation that presents her own disenchantment in a balanced manner.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 0.0 (out of 10) based on 0 User Votes

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

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