Man Push Cart
Man Push Cart Image
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Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Summary: 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)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    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.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    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.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    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.
  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Hartlaub
    50
    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.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. ChadS.
    8
    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.… Expand
  2. KenG
    8
    Sad, haunting, and unlike much of what Hollywood puts out, this feels refreshingly honest.
  3. JimC.
    1
    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.… Expand

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