The pleasingly self-aware and fast-paced “Dabka” begins with narration by journalist Jay Bahadur (Evan Peters) telling us that he hates movies where the main character narrates because that means that the screenwriters haven’t done their job to make the story work on a visual basis. While that may be true in some cases, “Dabka” itself is a movie where the brash but insecure voice of Bahadur grounds the story we are watching, and this voice also gives it some tension because we are never sure if his over-confidence might lead to disaster.
Based on a true story, “Dabka” begins in 2008 right after Bahadur graduates from college and his high school girlfriend breaks up with him. Unable to find a job, he is still living at home with his parents and doing a tedious marketing job until a chance encounter with the retired journalist Seymour Tolbin (Al Pacino).
Pacino offers the same loopy mentor performance that he has given many times before, but he and Melanie Griffith, who plays Bahadur’s mother, are basically special guest stars in this movie, which is carried by Peters in a high-energy and very appealing performance.
The wrap