Life sucks, recorders are stupid, and if you stand in one place long enough someone will flash you. The dialogue was bad, anything interesting was left alone, and though there were bright spots, overall it felt souless.

A decent drama that luckily never wallows in sentimentalism but on the other hand feels a bit empty at times.

A meditative study of struggle and loneliness. The casual pace, restrained performances and attention to detail are reminiscent of Bresson and the Dardennes. However it doesn't have the same emotional resonance. The miseries piled upon Ahmed feel more contrived. He's not just living in a harsh world, he seems to have bad luck thrust upon him. Still, it's a thoughtful film with a relatable lead performance. Even if this film didn't satisfy me, it did leave me curious about Bahrani's later work.

Very similar to, and nowhere near as good, as the director's followup, Chop Shop. A lot of that had to do with the protagonists: Chop Shop had a simple one (a naive but earnest young boy), while Ahmad's character and his (never developed) transition from a successful man in Iran to a poor vendor in America takes the whole movie to understand, leaving little time to get emotionally involved. A large number of scenes had obvious line reading, bad in any movie but especially so in this genre.

"Like that daily grind, his story of salvation sought and never attained is one of listless, bloodless tedium." - Nick Schager

Beautifully captured snapshot of street vendor life for an immigrant in New York City.

It's not the fact that the character doesn't grow or change, it's that the film never gives us the slightest idea who he really is as a person. This would be fine if he were interesting. He's not. He is a hard worker beaten down over & over. The film tells us he's a former music star w/ a son, but that remains almost entirely unexplored. Why does the family want to keep him from his son? No answer. Shot like a documentary but real people are FAR more interesting. Human misery minus the human.

A CHARACTER STUDY ON A MAN AND WHAT HE MUST DO EVERYDAY TO SURVIVE IN LIFE AND NEW YORK CITY. VERY SIMPLE, YET THOUGHT PROVOKING. I'D RECOMMEND THIS IF YOU WANT TO SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

Man Push Cart is solid but unremarkable. It has a loose, quietly observant style that unmistakably marks its indie roots and adheres to the patterns it lays out from its opening frames and the first strikes of the various relationships contained within. It says some interesting things about class divisions among, but could stand to say them a touch more forcefully.

Decent, but definitely has the feeling of a debut director with a distinctive style trying to find his footing. The lead performance is also not nearly strong enough to anchor the entire film.

There's realism, neo-realism, and this - pseudo-realism. Reality for people who've never lived life.

Has some good moments but ultimately falls flat.