Cairo Time

CHICAGO – Some films never get a fair shot with audiences. They open in a handful of art house theaters scattered throughout the country before inconspicuously landing on DVD.

CHICAGO – “Cairo Time” may be a serene and intricately nuanced romance between an American woman (Patricia Clarkson) and an Arab man (Alexander Siddig) in Cairo. But behind the cameras, the atmosphere felt more like an action movie, as filmmakers outwitted government censors by finding endless creative ways to capture their desired footage, in the midst of a bustling city that was largely out of their control.

CHICAGO – While “Sex and the City 2” and “Eat Pray Love” failed to impress their female target audience this summer, a small art house treasure flew under practically everyone’s radar. It brilliantly delivered precisely what moviegoers expected from those mainstream turkeys, without a trace of cultural insensitivity or superficial excess. That film was “Cairo Time,” and it deserves to be discovered on the small screen.

CHICAGO – A delicious sip of tea, a cool fragrant breeze, a stroll through a gorgeous foreign landscape. These are but a few of the sensations moviegoers will experience in “Cairo Time,” a deceptively simple, tenderly lyrical love story that is quite simply the most refreshing cinematic surprise of the season. I don’t want to overpraise this lovely little morsel. It’s meant to be savored, and has a rich aftertaste.