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johnehrenzweig
Reviews
Family Motel (2007)
Powerful and excellent
Family Motel is one powerful movie about the millions of marginalized refugees in the West. It's the visually stunning story about an industrious Somali immigrant and her teenage girls who become homeless as a result of a chain of misadventures. The non-professional actors are amazing, and the authenticity bites hard. Heartbreaking and inspiring. At times you can mistake the film for a documentary because there is a rawness to the performances, but by the time the film ends, and the credits roll you realize that the central family is acting. Other minor characters such the loud mouthed motel owner, family friends, and the pimpy guy who comes on to the underage daughter, all play their parts so convincingly. And I really loved the music, especially the songs by Somali superstar singer Ka'nan.