• Studio: Paladin
  • Release Date: Sep 28, 2012
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 7
  2. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. Reviewed by: Odie Henderson
    Mar 27, 2013
    63
    The description sounds like a real-life fish-out-of-water tale crossed with a sports movie. But the film wants to be more than that, and I'm on the fence about how well it succeeds.
  2. Reviewed by: David DeWitt
    Oct 12, 2012
    70
    This observant documentary avoids pedagogy; it's not always artful, but it has a relaxed, light touch that never topples into pretension.
  3. Reviewed by: Diego Costa
    Oct 12, 2012
    38
    Though there's something refreshing, and disturbingly familiar, about Kevin Sheppard's spontaneity, he's certainly not the most interesting thing about the film.
  4. Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    Oct 10, 2012
    83
    The sports drama gives The Iran Job a strong hook, while the cultural context enriches the movie's real story, which is less about Sheppard's life in Iran than about the people he meets.
  5. Reviewed by: Sam Adams
    Oct 9, 2012
    60
    The documentary's technique of cutting between warm exchanges and the bellicose rhetoric of then-presidents Ahmadinejad and Bush wears thin with overuse, but the big-hearted Sheppard makes for an amiable tour guide.
  6. Reviewed by: Betsy Sharkey
    Sep 27, 2012
    80
    One of those documentaries that is sad and hopeful in equal measure and exceptional in its storytelling.
  7. Reviewed by: Michael Nordine
    Sep 25, 2012
    60
    Although it presents itself as merely the story of a professional basketball player named Kevin Sheppard, who, never quite making it to the NBA, has spent his career playing in lesser leagues overseas, The Iran Job ends up being quite a bit more: an underdog sports story, a fish-out-of-water tale, and an outsider's perspective on Iran's almost-revolution of early 2009.

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