Audience Member
nice old-fashioned romantic movie with good cast.Nada Shouhayib is a star in the making.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/03/23
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Audience Member
Great movie and very true to Detroit culture and the middle east culture. Wallah I swear habiba
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
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Audience Member
I loved this movie and I fell in love with the characters...i want to see more of them!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
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Audience Member
This is a small indie film set in Detroit. The movie is largely set in a gas station located in a rough Detroit neighborhood (is there any other kind??). We follow a budding romance between a handsome Arab-American gas station operator and a beautiful young Arab-American woman who works in a telephone shop. We learn that these characters live in Dearborn, MI.; and work in Detroit.
Various characters come and go from the gas station. Much attention is paid to the electronic door locks. There is one on the station entrance door. Another is on the door leading into the bullet-proof cage protecting the cashier. A sense of danger and lingering foreboding is felt from a shooting early in the film. The sound of the door locks opening and closing is heard and seen thru out the movie.
The story is fairly simple. It plays out in an interesting manner. The two main characters are unusually attractive people. This never hurts a film with a romantic plot line.
It was an OK trip to the flics.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Director Rola Nashef's debut film, currently screening in various Michigan theaters, is a nuanced, genre blending look into the lives of Arab-American families in Detroit. This was the first time I'd seen this minority so accurately represented in film. All the characters- the protagonists, the supporting characters, and even the passing gas station customers- are well developed and relatable, with their own motivations and story. Arab or not, it is easy to sympathize with and relate to them. I found myself laughing throughout, especially at things the characters said that I remembered saying before. The story will draw you in and by the end of it, you will feel like you really know the characters, their personalities, and their struggles.
The film uses the perspective of a gas station attendant behind a wall of bulletproof glass to deliver a universal message about moving forward in life. After the death of his father, Sami leaves his plans of college behind to take over the family business. He falls in love with Naj, an "updo girl" also looking to break free from her family's expectations. The romance is a gentle one, the journey is touching, and the emotions are real. But theirs isn't the only story. Sami's mother gets a beautiful arc in which she has to learn to move on after the death of her husband, his cousin has to save the gas station from increasingly tough competition, every character in between has their own journey as well.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Providing a window into the expectations of young second-generation Arab-Americans, director Rola Nashef shares a compelling and engaging tale of relationships conflicted by a duty to one's family/culture and their own wants and desires in Detroit Unleaded. With an opening montage combing Motor City's Arabic-graffiti covered streets, the film promptly settles into the soon to be familiar setting of the stifling family gas station that the main lead Sami (EJ Assi) has taken over since the fatal shooting of its previous owner, his father.
Many might push to label this film as a modern day Romeo and Juliet-style situation, as Sami is soon introduced to Naj (Nada Shouhayib), who similarly finds her dreams being suffocated by the social constraints of tradition. Their romance moves along subtly, taking a slow pace that allows it to build up naturally rather than shoving the coupling together. Naj's many attempts to keep the relationship secret both from her wildly overprotective brother and her babbling gaggle of girlfriends are hilarious, providing the light hearted backbone to an impossible situation. Still, the best moments come from her own personal restraints, particularly a scene where the two leads lie on shelves, one above the other, where Naj lets the soft fabric of her pink dress fall so Sami can caress it with his hands. It is the closest the two come to physical affection up until that point in the film, and the harsh interruption they receive after only moves to show how the secrecy and restraints (placed on them by their families and themselves) have reached a breaking point. Despite the breach, their relationship pushes to achieve new heights, and the end result is satisfying and sweet.
Still, the film isn't all about the romance, and often its most moving moments come from Sami's scenes with his mourning widow mother. A constant subplot throughout the film, his mother's grief shows the struggle that a Middle Eastern immigrant woman faces when dropped in a new country with a culture that she doesn't understand. Her journey through grief was heartbreaking and deeply honest, giving the film depth in a way that you wouldn't expect from a romantic comedy.
Of course if this story is like that of Romeo and Juliet, then our Mercutio is Sami's over zealous and ambitious cousin, Mike (Mike Batayeh). Amid a rivalry with a nearby more successful gas station, Mike's antics to draw in more customers and income keep the laughs coming, making sure the film never feels too harsh. The wild array of trinkets he starts peddling and the hilarious customers that heed their call never gets old, showing the many flavors of the Detroit community. And luckily for us, things end up well for out Mercutio.
South Lebanese-born Nashef sheds a bright light on what life is really like for those who make up the largest community of Arab-Americans in the U.S., and the result is truly heartrending. The film never loses its pace, constantly providing the the laughter or subtle drama when it is called for. The film takes you on a journey of fulfillment. Where Clerks provided glance at working class ennui, Detroit Unleaded delves into the deeper foundations of one's tradition and desire to break it, leaving you with a sense of positive discovery and renewed dreams.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
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