Critics reviews

Based on the true story of Mohammed Assaf, a wedding singer from Gaza who went on to win Arab Idol, this jubilant air punch of a movie works best in the initial stages... Kinetically shot, and edited with a restless adolescent attention span, the film captures a scrappy gang of kids... who dream of musical stardom even as they scrabble for the money to buy instruments. The second part, which piggybacks on the manufactured thrills of the talent show, is less convincing.

Yes, it depicts the devastation in Gaza, but it never drifts into an anti-Israeli polemic. And although it dwells heavily on Assaf’s early childhood and the death of his sister from kidney failure, it refuses mawkish sentiment and tear-jerking climaxes.

Superficially, this is rather frothier than the filmmaker’s previous work on Paradise Now and Omar. But bring on the cheese, as it proves an irresistible story of the couldn’t-make-it-up variety, replete with a huge punch-the- air denouement.

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 Idol’ does offer a fascinating window into life in the weeping sore that is Gaza, and the mere existence of a film about the Palestinian people that doesn’t depict them as terrorists or victims is to be celebrated.

The movie is very energetic, but a more sanitized and official work than Abu-Assad’s previous films... The film is clearly an attempt to find something uplifting in what is a catastrophic situation.

“The Idol” has more than earned its preordained climax, celebrating a gifted artist and offering an exhilarating, refreshingly human portrait of a place many viewers know only as a war zone and source of heartbreaking statistics. Like its protagonist, “The Idol” finds a sense of identity, hope and pride within a landscape of grim dispossession and fatalism.

Just how seemingly uncomfortable the film feels in truly inhabiting the musical and inspirational biopic genres is tipped off by the often desolate images.

For all its safe choices and standard narrative, “The Idol” succeeds in communicating its message that the Palestinian people deserve a voice and representation.

After being accused by Israelis and American Jews of justifying terrorism, and then being accused by Palestinians of apologizing for treason, no doubt Abu-Assad was happy to make a movie almost everyone would find agreeable.

Often impeded by ham-fisted, inspirational dialogue, The Idol is not likely to earn Assaf more worldwide admirers, but for those who are already in his fan club, this film will be received like a bonus gift.

“The Idol” offers implicit commentary on everyday deprivations and work-arounds. Yet the screenplay stumbles when it plants self-conscious observations in the mouths of characters of all ages... By contrast, Abu-Assad’s assured visual language is never so awkward, and seldom so obvious.