Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

namashi_1 One of this year's Foreign Language Nominees at the Academy Awards, 'The Insult' is a heartbreaking story about divide, hate & circumstances. Made with the sharp vision of Writer-Director Ziad Doueiri, this is a film made with a beating heart & a sensitive mind. 'The Insult' Synopsis: After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee escalates, the men end up in a court case that gets national attention.'The Insult' is a deep insight into a common insult between two men. One is a Lebanese Christian & the other a Palestinian Refugee, both complexed & equally haunted souls, who stumble upon each other on a regular day & end up offending each other. What follows is a messy court case & the circus around it, which in turn, is a strong portrayal of the cultural differences, the hate that has followed on for legacies & the circumstances caused by people itself, who for the worse, have given in to their emotion of hate.Ziad Doueiri, along-with co-writer Joelle Touma, Writes a Screenplay that captivates & disturbs to equal effect. The motive of its strong Writing is clear: This story is important & it needs to told. The Screenplay is a protest towards hate & the people who are spreading hate now as we speak. Ziad Doueiri's Direction is subtle, but highly commendable. Cinematography & Editing are perfect. Art & Costume Design are decent.Performance-Wise: Kamel El Basha & Adel Karam, both, are excellent. Both the actors portray intensity & genuine emotion, without ever missing a single beat. Rita Hayek does a wonderful as Karam's wife. Others lend remarkable support.On the whole, 'The Insult' is an important story told with sensitivity & command. Don't Miss It.

tarainsa While the Muslim-Christian conflict is a common subject in Lebanese cinema, no film has explored the subject so thoughtfully, and with as much maturity, as this beautifully crafted film. I would give it a 10, except for the miscasting of Rita Hayek, who appears too aware of the camera, and the clearly fake "throaty voice" of the lead, who would have been better just speaking in his normal voice in an otherwise powerful performance. All in all, well done; highly recommended. Moving without being manipulative of the audience's emotions.

evanston_dad I imagine "The Insult" will inspire strong feelings among certain viewers who have a close connection to the topic, and especially those from parts of the world that feel strongly one way or another about the Palestinian conflict. Most of the rest of us will probably learn a little something about the cultural and religious conflict between Lebanese Christians and Palestinians, something Americans (where I'm from) certainly don't ever learn much about unless we actively seek it out. I very much enjoyed "The Insult" and I appreciated its attempts to be objective about a topic that most people who are directly affected by it can't be. People don't generally like to hear that there is often not a right or wrong side to a given issue but rather a vast middle area of gray, especially not in our current world climate where there's a "with us or against us" mentality about most things. But while I appreciated the film's approach, I couldn't help but feel it had a little bit of an after school special quality about it, a kind of preachy "can't we all just get along" tone that I don't necessarily disagree with but which feels a bit naive and facile in our extremely complicated times. A worthy effort and one that has a lot to recommend it. It just didn't hit it out of the ball park.Grade: A-

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. When a film opens with a statement that 'the views expressed are those of the authors and director, and not of the government of Lebanon', one quickly understands the difference in artistic freedom in that country versus what occurs in the United States, where cartoons and memes regularly poke fun at this country's President. Director Ziad Doueri and his co-writer Joelle Touma present an intense story of human nature that might happen anywhere, but since the leads are a Lebanese Christian and a Palestine refugee, that opening statement is warranted.One morning, a seemingly innocuous exchange between Tony (Adel Karam) and Yasser (Kamel El-Basha) takes place. While watering flowers on his balcony, the overflow sprays Yasser on the street below. Yasser, a city contractor, orders his team to fix the drainage issue, and Tony reacts violently - leading to Yasser delivering the titular insult. From there, all heck breaks loose. Apologies are requested and never delivered. Appeals to rational reconsideration are made. Tony's pregnant wife (an excellent Rita Hayek) pleads with him to let it go. Yasser's boss threatens him with termination. Still, two stubborn and prideful men refuse to give in.The subsequent courtroom drama feature other side stories, not the least of which is the relationship between the two opposing attorneys (Diamond Bou Abboud and Camile Salaheh), one a rising legal star and the other a veteran attempting to make up for a past failure. Emotions run high as two too-proud men turn what was little more than a playground standoff into a national incident being fought in the legal system and the media. Tony is a hot-head who somehow thinks an apology from Yasser is actually an apology for how Palestinians "messed up this country". Yasser's stoic nature barely shrouds his bitterness at the world since the Lebanon Civil War. History and childhood roots play a role, but mostly it's human nature that is at the core of this escalation.Though the title is not plural, there are multiple insults slung throughout the film, each reminding us of the power of words and the futility of the "sticks and stones" phrase. Our own prejudices and preconceptions alter our views and reactions, often preventing us from standing in the other fellow's shoes. Again, this situation could have played out in most any neighborhood on the globe, but this particular locale shows various ethnic and religious groups are still grappling with what it means to live together - despite the years of wars and unrest. We don't see a great deal of Middle Eastern cinema, but three days after I watched this film, it became the first ever movie from Lebanon to receive an Oscar nomination (Best Foreign Language Film) ... proving yet again that the language of cinema is universal.