The Pirates of Somalia
Echo Bridge Entertainment | Release Date: December 8, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
82
Paste MagazineJacob OllerDec 7, 2017
Even Bahadur’s stupid voiceover writing becomes funnier over time as we realize the clichés and groaners only serve to show what an ultimately lame writer Bahadur was—that it was his bravery, stubbornness, hope, inquisitiveness and stupidity that made him great. Read full review
75
The Film StageJohn FinkMay 1, 2017
Dabka is a visceral, engaging, fast-paced journalism drama with authenticity and a few rough edges. Read full review
70
Screen DailyNikki BaughanApr 28, 2017
This incendiary true story boasts a charismatic central performance from rising star Peters (X-Men, TV’s American Horror Story), whose everyman charm helps drive a narrative which has a tendency to get entangled in its own worthy intentions. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 24, 2017
The real delight here is Barkhad Abdi, the “I am captain now” pirate of “Captain Phillips.” Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenDec 12, 2017
Brian Buckley’s The Pirates of Somalia, based on a memoir by Jay Bahadur, finds itself navigating some choppy tonal waters prior to emerging as an engagingly performed take on recent world events. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeDec 9, 2017
This stranger-in-a-strange-land adventure has enough appeal to sustain its limited theatrical release. Read full review
60
TheWrapDan CallahanApr 28, 2017
Dabka winningly traces the ways that a callow American gets schooled in concepts like honor and sacrifice until he is considered an expert on a country and a people that he grows to love. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonDec 7, 2017
Writer-director Bryan Buckley's film is ultimately more interested in the journalist than his story. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 28, 2017
The movie’s much too flashy, allowing its cheeky attitude to overpower the otherwise humanist message (somehow, absurd situations feel less so when the narrator is constantly pointing out how outrageous everything seems to be), while the acting is all over the place. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredLauren Humphries-BrooksApr 28, 2017
Despite an excellent secondary cast and an interesting story, Dabka fails in its aspirations due almost entirely to its own smugness. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyDec 8, 2017
This is part of the movie’s problem. Aside from it being another how-I-made-out-in-an-“exotic”-locale narrative. The film means for us to delight in Jay’s flouting of conventions. Read full review
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