Amira & Sam

Amira and Sam does what great art should do: open our minds to thought-provoking and relevant issues while doing so in an enjoyable and highly entertaining way. There are elements of this film that will be familiar to many fans of the rom-com genre but it is much more than that standard fare. It challenges perceptions of veteran assimilation and immigration. Like the character of Sam, I am a veteran of Iraq. Upon my return home, the most difficult thing for me to confront was a society that was completely disconnected from the war effort and the sacrifices of the very few who were asked to fight it. I was also troubled by the many people who thought of all Iraqis as the enemy whereas I saw the bravery and heroism of many Iraqi citizens who joined the coalition forces in fighting the insurgents and sacrificed of themselves to rebuild their country. I feel Amira and Sam is the first movie to speak to those issues in an real and genuine way. I applaud the filmmakers for tackling such important topics yet choosing to tell a story that is at the same time incredibly funny and entertaining. Comedy is at its best when it speaks to truth. Amira and Sam uses comedy to help us get to the truth of these important issues. Knowing that this film was written and directed by a veteran and produced by veterans, I can't recommend this movie any more highly. Go see Amira and Sam! You'll love it!

Sam and Amira is extremely well done and touches on the issues of Immigration, and re- entry of our soldiers coming back from war. It is also a love story that develops in a very nice and complex way thru the movie. Martin Starr in his first leading man role does a fantastic job and is very believable. His character has a moral code that he sticks to even though he is given numerous opportunity and reason to trade against his values. Amira who is played by Dina Shihabi does a phenomenal job in her first leading role as the reluctant love interest while dealing with her own immigration challenges and discrimination coming from all sides. Paul Wesley is great as a Wall Street type working on the edges of the system trying to help/use his cousin to further his own ambitions. The movie is written and directed by Sean Mullin who himself is a West Point graduate and served this country at Ground Zero. He does a masterful job telling this story with all it's complexities and adding humor as the movie is very funny. Especially the back and forth between Sam and Amira. I saw the Premier at the Seattle Film Festival.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. I found it to be refreshing that a movie about a veteran doesn't descend into the jingoism so common in American movies about soldiers. I found the speed at which the romance developed to be unrealistically fast, but otherwise I found it quite believable.

Sadly, somebody attached to the movie felt it was appropriate to generate 39 fake reviews. It is possible that some are not fake, but when a review is posted _before_ the movie has been released, that's pretty bad. Normally, I wouldn't mention this because it seems like all movie companies do this on IMDb, but I've never seen such a high proportion of fakes for any other movie.

Just watched Amira & Sam at Hampton's Film Festival. Very pleasant surprise! Was expecting your run of mill "boy meets girl" love story and this was anything but that. The film is engaging and funny but at the same time exposes some sensitive political topics without ever making judgments or conclusions-- it leaves that to the viewer which is where it should be. The cast and the casting was fantastic. Starr (Sam) delivers a very convincing performance trying to maintain his principles in a world devoid of them. Dina Shihabi (Amira) matches him step for step. Their chemistry is undeniable and makes the movie click. Very strong debut for her -- who I expect we will see more of as she has the charisma, looks, talent and star power to go further. Also thought Paul Wesley was excellent as desperate, confused, generally weaselly Wall Street guy serving as the perpetual foil for development of Sam's character. Finally, Kudos to writer/director Mullin. From start to finish, the film was very well done. He is able to take several different themes and ideas and and roll them seamlessly into a film that was intriguing, funny and believable.

The fact that someone paid someone to place 20 fake reviews on IMDb with 10 star ratings is bad practise and IMDb should not allow it. Made me hesitant to watch it, because if the owner of this project doesn't believe in it, should I? .

About the movie. Take away all political correctness (and what is up with these people feeling offended). Let us run this against the Romcom/Bollywood clichelist:✓ Angry defensive girl, meets friendly naive guy, ✓opposite attracts, ✓A dramatic event brings them together.✓Love conquers all. Yup, seems to be all there. Is is bad? No it's no bad at all.

It's a romcom so no there is no fact checking for every event and some things are done for the cuteness factor. All together it is a nice watch and if the girl wasn't Muslim and the boy was Joseph Gordon-Levitt we'd be having this by the spoonful and declare it the indie 500 days of Summer.