54
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 82Paste MagazineJacob OllerPaste MagazineJacob OllerEven Bahadur’s stupid voiceover writing becomes funnier over time as we realize the clichés and groaners only serve to show what an ultimately lame writer Bahadur was—that it was his bravery, stubbornness, hope, inquisitiveness and stupidity that made him great.
- 75The Film StageJohn FinkThe Film StageJohn FinkDabka is a visceral, engaging, fast-paced journalism drama with authenticity and a few rough edges.
- 70Screen DailyScreen DailyThis incendiary true story boasts a charismatic central performance from rising star Peters (X-Men, TV’s American Horror Story), whose everyman charm helps drive a narrative which has a tendency to get entangled in its own worthy intentions.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe real delight here is Barkhad Abdi, the “I am captain now” pirate of “Captain Phillips.”
- 60TheWrapDan CallahanTheWrapDan CallahanDabka winningly traces the ways that a callow American gets schooled in concepts like honor and sacrifice until he is considered an expert on a country and a people that he grows to love.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThis stranger-in-a-strange-land adventure has enough appeal to sustain its limited theatrical release.
- 50VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThe movie’s much too flashy, allowing its cheeky attitude to overpower the otherwise humanist message (somehow, absurd situations feel less so when the narrator is constantly pointing out how outrageous everything seems to be), while the acting is all over the place.
- 50We Got This CoveredLauren Humphries-BrooksWe Got This CoveredLauren Humphries-BrooksDespite an excellent secondary cast and an interesting story, Dabka fails in its aspirations due almost entirely to its own smugness.
- 50Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonWriter-director Bryan Buckley's film is ultimately more interested in the journalist than his story.
- 38RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyRogerEbert.comGlenn KennyThis is part of the movie’s problem. Aside from it being another how-I-made-out-in-an-“exotic”-locale narrative. The film means for us to delight in Jay’s flouting of conventions.