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VIDEO RELEASE
Aug 12, 2003 (DVD)
Aug 12, 2003 (VHS)
CAST & CREW
Mariam Parris, Shaun Toub, David Ackert
Directed by Ramin Serry
more...
SYNOPSIS
Opening with a montage of news footage of the Islamic revolution in Iran and the exile of the Shah, set to The Cars' "Good Times Roll," MARYAM depicts the patriotic fervor and anti-Iranian sentiment of America in 1979 through the eyes of an assimilated Iranian American teenage girl (Mariam Parris) who, like most teens, only wants to fit in. Her suburban existence is slightly shaken by the arrival of her cousin, Ali (David Ackert), a fundamentalist Muslim who has come to the U.S. to attend grad school. more...
MPAA RATING
Not Rated
RUNTIME
90 minutes
RELEASE DATES
Theatrical: Feb 22, 2002
RELEASE COMPANY
Streetlight Films
GENRE
Dramas, Coming Of Age, Politics, Religion
OFFICIAL SITE
• The Official Maryam Site
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TIDBITS
SUBMIT/EDIT ARTICLE
SUBMIT USER REVIEW
FORUM
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 "It's a wise and powerful tale of race and culture forcefully told, with superb performances throughout."
-- Robert Wilonsky, NEW TIMES
 "A lack of thesis makes Maryam, in the end, play out with the intellectual and emotional impact of an after-school special."
-- Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece, POPMATTERS
"The picture would be better suited to public television, where
its modest character will be more at home and its didacticism
perhaps less blatant."
-- Frank Swietek, ONE GUY'S OPINION
" The film is powerful, accessible and funny. You won't miss its messages, but you'll be entertained as well."
-- Steve Rhodes, STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS
"A quietly moving look back at what it was to be Iranian-American in 1979."
-- Ernest Hardy, L.A. WEEKLY
"While it may play like an after-school special you might have seen during the 1980s on PBS, the emotional struggles portrayed remain digestible, and often thought-provoking."
-- Rachel Gordon, FILMCRITIC.COM
"Parris’ performance is credible and remarkably mature."
-- Maria Garcia, FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
"It's a very sincere work, but it would be better as a diary or documentary."
-- David Elliott, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
"captures that perverse element of the Kafkaesque where identity, overnight, is robbed and replaced with a persecuted "other.""
-- Walter Chaw, FILM FREAK CENTRAL
Click to read the article.
-- Greg Dean Schmitz, GREG'S PREVIEWS AT YAHOO! MOVIES
-- Click to read the article.
-- Phil Villarreal, ARIZONA DAILY STAR
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FRESH 83%
Avg. Rating: 6.9/10 |
"Carefully crafted, notably in its deft dramatic structuring, and has become timely in a way its maker could never have anticipated."
-- Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"It's a very valuable film..."
-- Richard Roeper, EBERT & ROEPER
"This movie may not have the highest production values you've ever seen, but it's the work of an artist, one whose view of America, history and the awkwardness of human life is generous and deep."
-- Andrew O'Hehir, SALON.COM
"Serry does a fine job of capturing the climate of the times and, perhaps unwittingly, relating it to what is happening in America in 2002. But hard-to-believe plot twists force the movie off track in its final half hour."
-- V.A. Musetto, NEW YORK POST
"[Serry] wants to blend politics and drama, an admirable ambition. It's too bad that the helping hand he uses to stir his ingredients is also a heavy one."
-- Elvis Mitchell, NEW YORK TIMES
"Not only a coming-of-age story and cautionary parable, but also a perfectly rendered period piece."
-- Tom Maurstad, DALLAS MORNING NEWS
"Uncannily in tune with contemporary global events."
-- Loren King, BOSTON GLOBE
"High on melodrama. But it's emotionally engrossing, too, thanks to strong, credible performances from the whole cast."
-- Desson Howe, WASHINGTON POST
"Maryam is more timely now than ever."
-- Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"It is enthralling and evocative, despite some flaws."
-- Jonathan Curiel, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"Serry perfectly captures the peculiar climate, creating uncanny echoes with today's situation."
-- Leslie Camhi, VILLAGE VOICE
"A searing reminder of the relevance of recent history and of the timeless power of fiction to humanize people and crystallize sweeping events into personal drama."
-- CHICAGO TRIBUNE
-- Click to read the article.
-- Robert Denerstein, DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
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* Who are the Approved Tomatometer Critics?
* Mouse over a tomato icon for a publication's original rating. Original rating not available for every publication.
* In fairness to critics whose last name begins with a letter at the end of the alphabet, certain pages are sorted in reverse order, z-a.
* Certain "Maryam" article data provided by the Movie Review Query Engine.
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