SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Turfseer Fireworks Wednesday is celebrated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's 2006 film that finally saw the light of day here in the US ten years later following a DVD release. Here Farhadi is both director and co-screenwriter, exploring marital discord between a middle-class couple on a Wednesday eve right before the Iranian New Year (outside a plethora of fireworks are exploding all over the city). The warring couple is wife Mozhdeh and husband Morteza Samiei; they have a young son, Amir-Ali who can't help be affected by the terrible tension between his parents. Morteza wants the apartment cleaned as the family was initially planning to take a trip to Dubai the next day (which never comes to fruition). He hires a maid, Rouhi, to clean the apartment, against Mozhdeh's wishes. Rouhi, is a virtual innocent compared to the Samieis, as she is soon to be married and has a cheerful disposition. Her working-class origins are succinctly contrasted with those of the middle-class Samieis (perhaps Farhadi is emulating Bergman's Persona, the 1966 face-off between a mentally ill actress and her more well-adjusted nurse, charged with taking care of her). Fireworks Wednesday has a rather slow-moving plot but the central question keeps us interested: is Morteza cheating on Mozhdeh with their divorced neighbor, Simin, who runs an illegal beauty salon in their apartment building? Mozhdeh conscripts Rouhi to spy on Simin and learns from her that both her husband and the neighbor won't be home until 5PM. Her suspicions about the affair virtually confirmed, Mozhdeh then has Rouhi pick up Amir-Ali at school and goes off to spy on her husband; after he finds out, he publicly beats her and she's ready to take her son and move in with her sister and brother-in-law. All hell breaks out in the apartment with Mozhdeh accusing her husband of the affair. It's the level-headed Rouhi who lied about how Simin knew of the Samieis' departure time to Dubai (she presents an alternative explanation), calming Mozhdeh and preventing her from leaving. There are more surprises here but keep in mind, as previously mentioned, it takes quite a bit of time to get to the big payoff. SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD. Yes it's Farhadi who teases us into believing that the wife is unstable and paranoid. But ultimately he reveals to the audience that indeed Morteza has been having an affair with Simin. The next twist is Simin wants out of the affair. And finally Rouhi figures out that Morteza is guilty as sin (she can smell his perfume-the same given to her by Simin during her beauty salon session there earlier). Again, it's the level-headed Rouhi who prevents further heartache by not confirming Mozhdeh's deeply held belief about her husband (which now happens to be true). Farhadi follows in the path of the earlier master Bergman, suggesting that the unhappy couple will continue to soldier on, despite the husband's infidelity. The performances here by stars Hedyeh Tehrani (Mozhdeh), Taraneh Alidousti (Rouhi), and Hamid Farokhnezhad (Morteza), are impeccable. While the dissection of marital infidelity is not the most original idea for a film, it's presented with great verisimilitude with enough surprises to keep our interest.

CinemaClown Another gem of a portrayal of Iran's urban middle & lower classes from the master filmmaker behind cinematic jewels like A Separation & About Elly, Fireworks Wednesday is as effective & impressive a domestic drama as Asghar Farhadi's later features and, in my opinion, remains his underrated masterpiece that can really use a broader audience.Featuring a gripping plot that gets better as the story progresses, tightly structured screenplay, captivating performances from its cast & tight editing, the best thing about Fireworks Wednesday is the manner in which Farhadi has interwoven the whole film in layers which keeps challenging ours as well as its characters' assumptions throughout its runtime & eventually results in an emotionally draining experience.Covering themes of lies, deception, marriage & infidelity from the eyes of an engaged young woman who's about to step into matrimony, while also keeping its narration perfectly stable by finding a fine balance between its suspense, mystery & drama, Fireworks Wednesday is a faith- shattering cinema that's powerful enough to rank amongst world cinema's finest films and is thoroughly recommended to all film lovers.

Martin Teller A wide-eyed bride-to-be gets a temp job as a housemaid, and finds herself in the middle of an explosive situation, and not just from the fireworks celebration of the New Year. Yet another fantastic movie from Iran, brimming with intense yet somehow understated family drama... something like Cassavetes, perhaps. The performances are all really good, especially Hedye Tehrani as the jealous wife (to continue the Cassavetes comparison, she's got kind of a Gena Rowlands thing going on). Although the commentary on gender roles will have more meaning to an Iranian audience, there is a universality to the situation and the interactions. These could easily be American characters, in an American city. Using the noise of the fireworks to punctuate the drama, however, is a little too obvious.

arya_zangi One of the best Iranian movies ever! chaharshanbe-soori is about love,family and truth.Mojde,a housewife,suspects his husband of having affair with a woman next door.A young girl who is going to get married comes to their home for cleaning and gets involved in their problem.Like people who are watching the movie,she thinks the husband is innocent and helps him to win the fight against his wife.All these events, take place in chaharshanbe-soori,an old Iranian ceremony.Movie has got excellent acting,Hedie Tehrani is unforgettable,and excellent directing by Asghar Farhadi.One of those movies that stick in your mind for ever!