Captain Abu Raed

BEAUTIFULLY directed by Amin Matalqua. I was grateful for a dark twist near the end. It was on its way to becoming the Arabian Big Fish, which wouldn’t be a bad thing, but Amin’s personality comes out a little more thanks to the final minutes. A special mention goes to Nadim Sawalha, a sturdy supporting player of numerous “Arab guy” roles for years, including a couple of Bond movies and Ishtar. His strong performance, along with the deft filmmaking, gives Jordan’s foreign film selection a good chance at an Oscar nomination.