To be honest, I would have been more comfortable with the story had it not included an almost deus-ex-machina turn from the decidedly appealing Rana Sultan as Nour, an actual pilot whose feminist independence leads her to befriend Raed. Sure, Raed—and the neighborhood kids, too—needs a savior. But Nour’s presence seems a bit too convenient, and even condescending. Still, this is small complaint, only valid if one is intent on wanting this film to be a great one instead of just a really good one. And I doubt American audiences would ever have even heard of the film if director Matalqa had made it to suit my tastes.

Writer/director Woody Allen has balanced a career of neurotic comedies and darker dramas over his four-decade career and he has won accolades for both. His new film, Whatever Works, is in the lighter vein and would have felt right at home in the director’s prolific period of the 1970s, so it comes as no surprise that the script was actually written in the ’70s. Written for Zero Mostel and then put aside after his death, the script was dusted off by Allen during the writer’s strike. Although it is far from his best work, the film is a return to the kind of movie that first made the director’s reputation.

A day after seeing this film at an advance screening, I had the good fortune of a trip to Chicago, where much of the film takes place. The city is somewhat proud of its legendary criminal history; they even sell Al Capone bobble-heads for souvenirs. While there I had the opportunity to see the Biograph Theater, famous for being the location of John Dillinger’s death. Now, if you think I spoiled the ending of the new gangster saga Public Enemies, then maybe its time you brush up on your American history. The ending of the John Dillinger story is famous. The beginning, not so much; but don’t expect Public Enemies to provide much of a backstory for the famous criminal.

While this movie may realistically portray “creatures from another Unisphere,” as the crack-addled Benny puts it, its real weakness is that it provides the audience with nary a handle on entry into that world. If you fail to identify with young Willy, and you just don’t know any of these characters in your own world, I imagine you’ll find the film nothing but dismaying and repulsive. If you’re interested in a slice of this life, but one a little more accessible without being sanitized, I recommend The Dead Girl or Alpha Dog… but even then, you may want to keep an air sickness bag handy. This is bold, personal filmmaking, but it requires bold, broad-minded viewer discretion, too.

There were a lot of problems with director Michael Bay’s live-action Transformers movie released in 2007. The comedy was forced, the robot battles were confusing, and the movie was about 30 minutes too long. As this was a live-action Transformers movie, a movie I had been dying to see since I was about six years old, I was willing to forgive these flaws. Now, Bay returns with the inevitable sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I had faint hopes that these issues would be fixed in the sequel, but unfortunately they are only magnified; and now that I’ve gotten over the initial buzz of a live-action Transformers movie, I must admit that I’m much less forgiving.