Sorry, Haters (2005)

Against the anxieties and fears of post-9/11 America, an Arab cab driver picks up a troubled professional woman with unexpected results.

Director:

Jeff Stanzler

Writer:

Jeff Stanzler

Stars:

Robin Wright, Abdellatif Kechiche, Élodie Bouchez

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Wright	...	Phoebe Torrence (as Robin Wright Penn)
Abdellatif Kechiche	...	Ashade Mouhana
Élodie Bouchez	...	Eloise
Aasif Mandvi	...	Hassan
Sandra Oh	...	Phyllis Magintyre
Starla Benford	...	Traffic Officer
Remy K. Selma	...	Imam
Makani Rietveld	...	Ashade's Nephew
Fred Durst	...	Evan Jealous
Rich Monahan	...	European Cab Driver
Annouchka Yameogo-Stanzler	...	Socialite #1
Jennifer McCabe	...	Socialite #2
Maya Mikhailov	...	Socialite #3
David Bishins	...	INS Agent
Victoria Jones	...	Mugging Victim

Storyline

With a PhD in Chemistry, devout and bearded, Syria-born Ashade Mouhana (Abdellatif Kechiche) drives a cab in New York, and must accept financial assistance from friends who attend the Islamic Council of America so that he can pay a lawyer to get his Canadian brother, who is being detained as a '2nd tier suspect', released. He also has to look after his toddler nephew and French-speaking Caucasian sister-in-law, Eloise (Elodie Bouchez), and is fearful that his brother may be tortured in Syria. One night he befriends a passenger, who identifies herself as Phyllis (Robin Wright Penn), claims she is Head of Programming of Q-Dog Television, sympathizes and offers to assist him get his brother released. He gets a shock when she asks him to carry out an act of terrorism as retribution against America. He walks away, and subsequently finds out that she has stolen his money. Shortly thereafter, his cab is confiscated by secret agents, and Eloise is held for questioning. Vengeful, he shaves off...

---

Plot Keywords:

lawyer | syria | canadian | passenger | money | 

---

Taglines:

The dust has finally settled... for most of us.

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic French

Release Date:

1 March 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Post-9/11 Cab Drama

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,207 (USA) (3 March 2006)

Gross:

$6,364 (USA) (17 March 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

IFC Productions, InDigEnt (Independent Digital Entertainment), Independent Film Channel (IFC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min 83 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in 15 days.

---

Quotes

Phoebe: It's just, that day I wasn't a failure, okay? I was not a nobody. I wasn't powerless because everyone was powerless. Everybody. I just wanted that day back. I just wanted it back.

---

Connections

Referenced in No Apologies: 'Sorry, Haters' Roundtable (2006)

---

Soundtracks

"I Feel Beautiful"
Written by Otis Fagg
Performed by Robyn Hitchcock
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.

User Reviews

Powerful & Gripping

This acting in this film was excellent, and I found it very powerful and gripping with a very unexpected ending. It is too bad that smaller films like this, that are thought provoking and leave you thinking well after seeing it, often get overlooked.

As disturbing as Robin Wright Penn's character is, you can't take your eyes off of her and wonder what she is capable of next. And Abdel is also very captivating. The emotional twists, the way these two psychologically torture each other consistently leaves an element of surprise. Some may love it, some may hate it, but with these two controversial characters, I would be hard pressed to hear anyone leave this saying they were bored.

The one thing that is sad, is that indie films like this that are not getting the media attention deserved, means that Robin won't even get an Oscar nod, cuz she acted her ass off! Props to the writer/director Stanzler for taking a brave chance on this material.