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Man Push Cart
Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  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. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    78
    A slow-burn stunner, where nothing much of consequence happens, except life itself.
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    A realistic drama about life's uncertainties.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    A fascinating, sad, sometimes quite poetic window into a grueling way of life most of us know little about.
  7. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    75
    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.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    75
    This modern slice of neorealism has been made with a skill, and humanity, that suggests Bahrani may have a "Bicycle Thief" in him yet.
  9. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    75
    Quietly heartbreaking.
  10. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    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.
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    70
    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.
  12. 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.
  13. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    50
    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.
  14. Variety
    Reviewed by: Jay Weissberg
    50
    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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User Reviews

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User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User 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.… Full Review »
  2. 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.… Full Review »
  3. KenG
    8
    Sad, haunting, and unlike much of what Hollywood puts out, this feels refreshingly honest.
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