charley26 Everything from the first shot made me think this would be a movie of substance and it did live up-to my expectations. Being born and lived all my life in Dubai would be I would know a thing or two about the city and every All the characters did a remarkable job filling their characters with naturality, special mention to three of the holding characters,protagonists of the film namely Yassin(Khalfan), Saoud(Faisal) and Sonu(Basu). I think its absolutely great to have films made like this which bring out the essence and feel of a metropolitan city like Dubai. The fact that the city and its lights have been depicted in the tone that it is shows the director knew the shade of how it had to be, had a vision of the final product. Nice slick piece of cinematography all through.Kudos to Ali n the nice work he has given us! Great stirring film!

sofiahusain93 An excellent movie overall. There was a fluent use of English, Arabic and Urdu in this movie because in Dubai all three languages are used fluently. This movie shows the sharp contract in people and their attitude.I really felt for the Indian Manager who had worked for 15 years only to be put under a young boy just because he was boss's son.This movie did not touch more sensitive items like slave servants or sex slaves but it plays in such a way that you could feel the helplessness in the air.The message in between the lies was that this life in the fast lane means that there is nothing what it seems.

ianmat Feature-length films from competent Arab directors are rare. This one is both rare and good. My wife worked hard to persuade me to see the film after having seen it herself the day before. It is at first off-putting watching a film financed by product placement - largely due to my fellow similar goers cackling "ooh, that's Cat Boy and Geordie Bird" and a rather staged scene in a ballet school, but the film quickly reaches its stride.This film leaves every local watcher of all nationalities nodding and saying 'so true'. Like the film, Dubai isn't perfect by any means, but that doesn't mean both aren't great.It is a film about dreamers and their dreams, but set in almost real life. The Bollywood wannabe taxi driver Basu (perhaps the best portrayal in the film), the frustratingly wooden Natalia, playboy and eventual arch-villain Guy Berger: all have different dreams. For me, though, the Emirati characters steal the show. Summing up the brash yet uncertain confidence of this country and showing the true heart of the Emirati population. The final scenes involving Faisal, Khalfan and their families bring a tear to my eye every time. Just don't tell the wife.

Tristan Marchetti I've convinced my movie-addict French neighbor to come discovering the first Emirati movie with me last night and we've both been thrilled by this experience! We've both been living in Dubai for a few years and everything in this movie was talking to us: the character, the story, the atmosphere and the sets of course. Debuting director Ali F. Mostafa has done an excellent work in depicting these different lives and their destiny in this cosmopolitan city, capturing smartly the essence of the Dubai "cultural melting pot" without falling in the stereotype. Acting was good in general for the whole cast (special mention to Yassin Alsalman aka Khalfan and Sonu Sood aka Basu), the photography was capturing Dubai atmosphere with just the right tone and the cool soundtrack was giving a arty note to the movie, reminding me a bit of what is being done in the US independent production the last years (Anderson or Reitman). City of Life is not free of defects though: the fighting scenes look a bit like cartoon (watch the local martial art in dish dash!), the social class rivalry between Emiratis would have benefited from further development and some elapse effect in the narration dilute the emotional impact of certain scenes (the scene with Natalia at the hospital), but these minor reproaches do not erode the pleasure you will feel watching City of Life and remember this is only the first movie of Ali F. Mostafa! Now would this movie talk to somebody not living in Dubai? I would say definitely yes as City of Life stands alone as a good piece of cinematography with a captivating story. I hope this movie will get the chance to have an international career and I wish foreign audience will witness the birth of a new talented Emirati director as we did yesterday. Spread the word!!!