Naz & Maalik (2015) Reviews

• A well-acted but meandering film

  ewf10002016-07-06

  Overall, I enjoyed this movie. I have to agree with some of the other reviews on this site that the movie lacks focus. It spends far too much time on the scenes of the main characters hawking lottery tickets and such on the street. The subplot about government profiling of young, black, Muslim men isn't developed. Nor are many of the secondary characters (such as Naz's sister). The film also needs a good ending. When I watched the final scene, I kept sitting there, waiting for more, because it felt as if the camera just went dark, leaving a lot of loose ends.The film would have benefited from jettisoning the profiling subplot and the many scenes of street sales and devoting more time developing the relationship between Naz and Maalik. Because this is where the strength and beauty of this film lies. The acting on the part of the two male leads is powerful and well-done. They have a definite on-screen chemistry, and they made me believe in the passion these two characters have for each other. Movies about young black men in love are few and far between, and that fact alone makes this movie a delightful gem. The film conveyed a strong sense of place through its effective use of the gritty urban backdrop (I believe the story is set in Brooklyn.) I will certainly be viewing this one again.

• Many question marks

  jaroslaw992016-04-29

  Spoilers...... I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought it would be interesting to see a love story about Gay Muslims in NYC. It was repetitive in spots for sure but it wasn't nearly as bad as the two reviews already here would have you believe. Many movies have a lot of things that were unexplained and this movie did also. The leads were portrayed as pretty intelligent, but they barely discussed reconciling their being Gay with their religion or if Islam allows selling lotto tickets and Christian holy cards on the street supposedly for their college fund. It was totally believable that the FBI would be suspicious and I thought the acting by all concerned was just fine. All the walking around NY could have been better spent at least partly discussing their attraction for each other and how their friend Dan knew all along. The film just didn't go anywhere and ended abruptly.

• Wasted Potential

  Alvin_tp2018-06-14

  Until now, I've never watched a film and felt incomplete at the end. All of the main issues were left unresolved. In fact, the only issue that was resolved was the FBI bit. And who cared about that??? I had hopes for this film. I thought that it would at least attempt to explore the issues of religion and sexuality. Alas, nothing. I'm leaving this film with mores questions than I had when I started watching it.

• Boring movie about nothing

  ComedyFan20102018-06-11

  I saw that this movie is about black Muslim gay guys and I thought that it will all be about how super oppressed they are. Actually the word "oppression" is mentioned in the 3rd minute of the movie as a part of a joke made by one of the characters. But the movie wasn't even about that. I mean they probably tried to make them looked oppressed by FBI and police when they were asked some simple questions after having a talk with an undercover cop about buying a gun and one of them gets a ticket when breaking the rules, but I saw nothing wrong or oppressive about the cops behavior. Their homosexuality makes them a target of their own families. But this also isn't explored as we really don't get to know anything about their families or their behavior and actions towards homosexuality. Actually we didn't get to know much about main characters as well. Just that they are gay and spend all the time selling some useless stuff on the street. So yes, a movie about nothing with nothing important happening

• An unbelievably bad film

  DCLastcolony2016-04-02

  So bad in fact it is hard to believe movie pay sites like the new pay Vimeo and Amazon Video on Demand would hoodwink people into paying for this film. One wants to support independent film-makers to be sure and young actors need to be encouraged, but the script of this film above all is so bad, it drags everything in the film down with it. There are so many scenes in the film that are not only boring and clichéd but totally irrelevant to the main story line and character development. In addition, there are just far too many repetitive scenes, such as on the street and in stores. The theme of the film -- two young Muslim men in New York who bond with each other and love each other -- has possibilities to be sure, particularly for a general American audience unfamiliar with Islam. But the theme is completely wasted in this effort.