Zaytoun is a beautiful, touching film about two hardened souls who need each other far more than they're willing to let on.

| Mar 24, 2020

An overly sentimental film that tends to overstep the bounds of realism.

| Aug 28, 2019

It's possible to make humor work under the weight of war, but it requires more finesse and tact than Riklis and penner Nader Rizq exhibit.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Apr 10, 2019

Zaytoun is surprisingly short on tension, with each and every potential danger evaded though a collection of jarring edits or implausible events.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 7, 2019

Poignant and thoughtful, Zaytoun is a solid effort from Riklis.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 14, 2018

Spoken plainly, the olives of Zaytoun are bland to the taste.

| Sep 26, 2017

Despite its "The Defiant Ones" liberal Zionist pieties, there's solid drama and performances.

| Feb 8, 2014

Zaytoun is relatively successful in tiptoeing through the political minefield of the subject matter, and it offers out the promise of hope and possibility without raising expectations.

| Nov 4, 2013

We've ... got to admit right up front: Part of our interest was simply to see what Stephen Dorff is doing playing an Israeli POW.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 24, 2013

It's a powerful drama that works on a couple of levels.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 24, 2013

The movie means well enough, yet Zaytoun doesn't do enough to upset expectations, trusting in the power of warm orchestral strings and softening demeanors to coax the viewer into a deceptive comfort zone.

| Original Score: C+ | Oct 24, 2013

It's probably best viewed as a fable that tries to strike a hopeful note amid the many woes of the Middle East, but the blunt filmmaking and the near-sentimentality make it hard to buy into.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 17, 2013

Visually operatic street scenes, panoply of characters, Dorff brusque to paternal, talented ensemble of Palestinian/Israeli-Arab actors [make] this crossing worth traveling.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 11, 2013

The resolution is a bit Hollywood, but then who says all films about the Middle East have to be relentlessly grim? "Zaytoun" dares to find common ground and hope amidst political confusion.

| Original Score: B- | Oct 4, 2013

A trek that is occasionally very unlikely, but moving nonetheless.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 3, 2013

... never strikes the right balance of comedy and melodrama, and winds up trivializing the plight of his characters in the process.

| Sep 30, 2013

Lively characters and a series of offbeat events make this movie watchable, except that we never believe anything that happens.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 27, 2013

It's just all too breezy to have any real effect.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 26, 2013

Given how much Zaytoun follows the playbook, the pic's portentous ending is extraordinarily subtle, and will resonate best with those who know the history of the region.

| Sep 23, 2013

The film's facile message of cross-cultural unity owes more to fairy tale than reality, but the action is slick and the story gripping.

| Sep 23, 2013