This endearing if unabashedly hokey biopic recounts the uplifting story of Mohammed Assaf (played as a child by angelic Kais Attalah; as an adult by a more angular Tawfeek Barhom). The real Assaf is a Gaza-born Palestinian wedding singer and taxi driver who competed on Arab Idol, the Middle Eastern equivalent of Pop Idol, in 2013. His journey, as they like to call it on shows like this, was a rocky one, full of the hardship and heartbreak you’d expect. He even lost a beloved sister (played with feisty charm by Hiba Attalah), who taught him to believe in himself and his ability to change the world.
Thankfully, accomplished director Hany Abu-Assad (Omar, Paradise Now) infuses the tale with a real sense of place and time, and manages to keep the squidgier sentimental excesses mostly in check. OK, maybe the hospital deathbed scene is a skoosh over the top, but it could have been much worse. If ever there was a movie tailor-made to provide subtitle-reading training for the tween and teen kids of left-leaning parents, this is it.
