20131209: Drama Review--Ambrosia

Ambrosia

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. Canadian live action feature length film, 2012, NR, 79 minutes, drama.  Spoken word is in English.
2. IMDB: 7.3/10.0 from 28 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: Not even a stub page.  No search results for the 2012 film. Update: 'No reviews yet...' and 'No score yet....'
4. Netflix: 2.1/5.0 from 2,492 audience ratings.
5. Written and directed by: Baharak Saeid Monir.
6. Starring: Sahir Biniaz as Leila, Heather Doerkson as Sarah, Camyar Chai as Ali, Pauline Egan as Monica.


2. Setup and Plot
1. In 2012, the film depicts a man ordering pizza and writing on a piece of paper while driving.  Nice.  Perhaps distracted driving is not as serious in Canada.


2. Leila is an immigrant of Iranian descent in Canada.  Leila is taking a class in which she makes designer clothing.  She helps make pizzas with her husband Ali at his shop Canadian Pizza now and then.  At a party, she gets a job offer through her connections from class.  Ali is happy for her success.  Early on, her boss Sarah invites her for a drink at a lesbian bar.  Leila and Sarah discuss their cultural differences.


3. Ali's business fortunes start to decline along with that of the local economy.  Leila is doing well, but her boss is coming on to her.  Ali fires two of his staff; Leila is at the pizza shop more often after work, but she's not happy with it.  Ali is a hothead who does not suffer gladly racial lies and insults from Anglo Canadians.  Leila gets more discouraged while Ali spirals downward.


4. Leila's boss renews her romantic approaches to Leila, who slowly gets more receptive.  In the middle of all this, Leila finds that she is pregnant.  She decides to terminate without mentioning this to Ali.  Ali put the house on the market without mentioning this to Leila.  These two choices were not good, possibly terminal, to the marriage.  Leila leaves in a huff.  She makes arrangements to live elsewhere, and Ali wonders where she is and what's going on.  After meeting Ali at the office, Sarah dismisses him as too simple for Leila.


5. Will Leila go through with the termination?  Will Ali and Leila get back together?  Will Ali keep his business?  Will Sarah get what she wants?


3. Conclusions
1. This film was not well noticed by the public.  The barefoot and pregnant cliche at the end was a bit of a surprise.
2. One line summary: Culture clash in Canada, the short version.
3. Three stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 No problems; looks fine.


2. Sound: 9/10 Good, clear.


3. Acting: 5/10 Camyar Chai and Sahir Biniaz were solid enough as Ali and Leila.  Pauline Egan was not all that convincing as Monica.  The supporting actors were OK but not great.  Heather Doerkson was the least believable as Leila's boss. 


4. Screenplay: 5/10 Plays like a soap opera, without much intricacy or depth.