Bahrani uses the theme of survival to push the narrative on everyday people who go through similar struggles in the major cities and that it is not just limited to adults.

| Mar 6, 2023

The Italian neorealism of the 1940s is reconfigured by Iranian-American writer-director Ramin Bahrani.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 12, 2021

a film in the neorealist vein, one of close observation and conviction that brings us into a world that many of those who live in larger cities see every day-right under their eyes-but probably rarely if ever stop to consider.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 8, 2021

[A] modern classic...

| Feb 27, 2021

... the whole of Man Push Cart is a meditation on self and perceived personal value; perpetually heartbreaking as each scene relays some new hope against Ahmad's despair-ridden reality.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 22, 2021

The one that started it all for Ramin Bahrani and is emblematic of his neo-realist aesthetic. (Blu-ray Review)

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 18, 2021

One of the greatest film experiences you're likely to have this holiday season arrives this week very quietly, as if walking into Bay Area theatres on the paws of a cat.

| May 19, 2020

A noble attempt to give us a look at one of the regular people who populate our civilization, one of the guys we may see everyday but would be otherwise totally unfamiliar with.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 1, 2010

Although the acting isn't so hot from the non-professional bit part players, Ahmad Ravzi - also a non-professional actor and former push cart seller himself - puts in a stoic and solid performance.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 7, 2007

Delivers the grind without sugar and clichés.

| Original Score: A- | Nov 27, 2007

Fiction, but always with one foot firmly planted in a grim post-9/11 reality, the cast and crew got called terrorists by people passing by the set, and with a visit from the FBI to see if the film set was a coverup to conceal a terrorist plot in progress.

| Oct 30, 2007

The darkly realistic cinematography of Michael Simmonds gives the film a near-documentary style in its depiction of the endless, physically draining work.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 12, 2007

Recalling Italian neorealist movies such as The Bicycle Thief, Man Push Cart is a slice of a very sad life.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 3, 2007

A sad, powerful, austere experience of a movie, this is the story of a man who has known profound, compound loss.

| Mar 12, 2007

A sad, honest movie about the day-to-day courage and stoicism of decent people who cling to the lowest rung of the social ladder.

| Jan 20, 2007

Man Push Cart, written and directed by Ramin Bahrani, attempts to put a human face on the men (and it is generally men) who work inside these tin boxes.

| Original Score: B | Jan 11, 2007

A slow-burn stunner, where nothing much of consequence happens, except life itself.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 4, 2007

The makers of Man Push Cart seem so dedicated to making a film that defies Hollywood conventions that the finished product lacks enough entertainment value to justify price of admission.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 8, 2006

Man Push Cart is likely too slow to pull in much of an audience, but that's a shame, because it has so much empathy for the plight of the lonely.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 8, 2006

Michael Simmond's cinematography, especially in scenes of Ahmad muscling his way amid evening traffic and early-morning delivery trucks, is wonderfully true to the moods of a city that never sleeps and seldom nods at the hard work going on before it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 1, 2006