The Iran Job

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  • Opened September 28, 2012 (LA)
  • 1 hr 33 min
  • NR

  • When American basketball player Kevin Sheppard accepts a job to play in one of the world’s most feared countries – Iran – he expects the worst. But what he finds is a country brimming with generosity, acceptance, and sensuality. With a charismatic personality that charms everyone he meets, Kevin forms an unlikely friendship with three outspoken Iranian women who share with him their strong opinions on everything from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin’s season in Iran eventually culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement – a powerful prelude to the sweeping changes currently unfolding across the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring. In THE IRAN JOB director Till Schauder reveals the human, often humorous, and sometimes heartbreaking sides of Iran, giving us access to a country often hidden in mystery. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Kevin Sheppard, Hilda Khademi, Laleh, Leah Sheppard, Elaheh, Abdullah, Zoran "Z" Milicic, Kami Jamshidvand, Ali Doraghi, Mehdi Shirjang, Gholamreza Khajeh, Asadollah Kabir, Fereidoon Reisi, Ahmad Mohammadi
  • Director: Till Schauder
  • Genres: Documentary

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Critic Reviews

83
The A.V. Club
| Noel Murray

The sports drama gives The Iran Job a strong hook, while the cultural context enriches the movie's real story, which is less about Sheppard's life in Iran than about the people he meets. Read full review

80
Los Angeles Times
| Betsy Sharkey

One of those documentaries that is sad and hopeful in equal measure and exceptional in its storytelling. Read full review

70
The New York Times
|

This observant documentary avoids pedagogy; it's not always artful, but it has a relaxed, light touch that never topples into pretension. Read full review

63
Chicago Sun-Times
|

The description sounds like a real-life fish-out-of-water tale crossed with a sports movie. But the film wants to be more than that, and I'm on the fence about how well it succeeds. Read full review

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