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You’d think Patricia Clarkson would be the main attraction in “Cairo Time,” seeing as this sweet, simple, elegant film is the first in which the infallible indie queen is the front-and-center star. But you’d be wrong.
As Juliette, a magazine editor whose couple’s vacation in Cairo becomes a one-woman show when her UN-ambassador husband (Tom McCamus) is held up in Gaza, Clarkson gives her sleepiest performance, overly devoting herself to the subtlety of the material. Stunning in every colorful, tailored dress she dons, the 50-year-old actress has never looked hotter, but the fi re her fans adore is missing.
The real draw here is the setting, a beautiful place that’s rarely examined on the big screen. Syrian-Canadian writer/director Ruba Nadda does for Cairo what Sofi a Coppola did for Tokyo in “Lost in Translation”: She shares her intimate love for the city so poetically, it beckons you to visit or, at the very least, convinces you to love it, too. Gorgeous and with no need for embellishment, the lensing by Luc Montpellier provides a few of the year’s finest compositions and, as Juliette explores her surroundings, we join her, taking in both the majestic sights and the less attractive, hard truths of the ancient metropolis.
Clarkson’s co-star is the gifted Alexander Siddig (“Syriana”), who plays Tareq, a friend and former employee of Juliette’s husband. Tareq agrees to host Juliette during her stay and, in a development that sneaks up on both of them, the characters fall into a quiet romance.
Nadda presents Tareq’s and Juliette’s relationship with the gentleness of a breeze, limiting the dialogue to only what must be said and offering sexy, restrained gestures (the sharing of a hookah, picture-taking on the Nile).
“Cairo Time” is a star-crossed romance begging for a bit more from its star, but its vistas and light touch are well-worth experiencing.
Cairo Time
PG
Three reels out of four
At the Ritz 5 tomorrow
Recommended Rental
Red Riding trilogy
Not rated
Available Tuesday
An engrossing trio of British thrillers focusing on a series of murders that occur over a decade in Yorkshire, England, “Red Riding” unites three directors — Julian Jarrold (“Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974”), James Marsh (“Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1980”) and Anand Tucker (“Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983”) — with such actors as David Morrissey, Andrew Garfield and Sean Bean to tell an epic, unforgettable crime story.
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