Amira & Sam (2014)

Amira & Sam is one of those small, disarmingly human films that sneaks up on you: a romance with real stakes, a gentle comic pulse, and a New York City texture that feels lived-in rather than movie-polished. Martin Starr brings a wounded, quietly funny decency to Sam, while Dina Shihabi gives Amira a sharp, guarded intelligence that makes their connection feel earned instead of engineered—and their chemistry carries the whole thing with an easy, honest charm. The movie balances warmth with an undercurrent of postwar dislocation and immigration anxiety, never turning its characters into symbols or speeches, just people trying to find solid ground. It’s not for viewers who want a big glossy rom-com or who are put off by frequent profanity, but if you’re on the fence and craving something sincere, funny in a low-key way, and surprisingly tender, it’s a lovely bet.

Amira & Sam is clearly aiming for a warm, cross-cultural romance that also nods to real post-war trauma and the precariousness of immigration life in New York. The problem is it often feels like it’s juggling three different movies at once—veteran readjustment, a deportation clock, and a quirky rom-com—and none of them land with the weight the premise promises. The romance can come off a bit pre-packaged and the stakes oddly muted, with a lot of unnecessary profanity doing work the script should be doing. Still, the leads have an easy, likable chemistry and there are sincere moments with Bassam, but if you’re looking for either a truly sharp romance or a hard-hitting drama, this may feel like a near-miss rather than a bullseye.