Zaytoun
Strand Releasing | Release Date: September 20, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
8
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezOct 3, 2013
The combination of youthful irreverence and military indoctrination is jarring. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTom RussoOct 24, 2013
A scene between Yoni and Fahed in the pilot’s makeshift holding cell is a microcosm of everything that’s right about the movie, and not quite right. Read full review
63
Washington PostJohn DeForeSep 27, 2013
Riklis isn’t heavy-handed here, and even when the film’s plot grows a little unlikely, its tone is never sappy. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithAug 14, 2013
Neatly juxtaposes the beauty of the landscape with the enmities it engenders. Read full review
55
NPRMark JenkinsSep 20, 2013
Zaytoun is different: This time, the director allows his characters to cross the frontier. That makes for a story that's sweeter, but also less convincing. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoOct 17, 2013
Well-intentioned but heavy-handed. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 26, 2013
It's just all too breezy to have any real effect. Read full review
50
The Playlist Joe CunninghamAug 16, 2013
Despite some great character work, the film's journey comes across as pedestrian at best. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonSep 20, 2013
The film’s facile message of cross-cultural unity owes more to fairy tale than reality, but the action is slick and the story gripping. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearSep 17, 2013
The fact that the film’s title is an Arabic word for “olive,” as in holding out said branch to your foes, gives you a sense of what Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis (Lemon Tree) is going for: a melodrama with a do-we-all-not-bleed? moral. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawAug 14, 2013
It's quite a sweet idea, with a liberal attempt at balance, though Palestinian audiences may query the idea of making their half of this equation a child, and Fahed's motivation for defying his elders in quite so disloyal and dangerous a way, is never convincingly explained. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 19, 2013
In grabbing for the heart this one-size-fits-all fable sadly ignores the mind. Read full review
30
The DissolveAndrew LapinSep 18, 2013
Though Dorff isn’t the only thing wrong with Zaytoun, he is still its biggest liability, and the rare case where one miscast role ruins a film’s essential premise. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJohn OurslerSep 17, 2013
Alternating abruptly between road-trip comedy and war-through-a-child's-eyes melodrama, the film's tonal inconsistency prevents the story from gelling. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineTomas HachardSep 15, 2013
It misfires in tone, depth, and political tact, dumbing down rather than providing new insights into the Israel-Palestine conflict. Read full review
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