The Dictator
Out of context: Reply #15
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- GeorgesII0
two post up,
Writer, director, and actor Albert Brooks says he wrestled for years with the idea of exploring the ways the world has changed since September 11, 2001, calling it the "700-pound gorilla sitting in my comedy office saying, 'Deal with this, find a way.'" Apparently, that big ape eventually evolved into a Big Idea, because the concept for Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World is a great one. It's getting a bit tiresome seeing one misguided American after another with their cutsie little yellow or red-white-blue ribbons on their outsized SUVs.OK that said...
The downside is, Al Brooks is not funny. Yes, I know he is not funny in the movie. He does a great job of not being funny, but the movie still should have been funny. More of stuff with the state dept guys and the Indian & Pakistani politicians would have helped. I really felt that they were going somewhere with the girls boyfriend wanting to do comedy, but they just dropped it.
The movie plods along. Brooks makes a furtive trip to Pakistan to meet with some aspiring comics and takes a meeting with the Al-Jazeera television network. He visits the Taj Mahal, but actually forgets to notice it because he is so absorbed defending his comedy approach to Stuart. He tries to counsel Maya's jealous boyfriend Majeed, who misinterprets the affectionate but innocent relationship between the comedian and his bright assistant. The Indian and Pakistani governments also misunderstand his actions; Brooks remains as blithely clueless about political tensions as he does about cultural ones and almost starts a nuclear war in the process. Eventually, the film comes to an oddly abrupt end—stopping rather than finishing—and Brooks comes home.
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World is not for everyone. The honchos at Sony Pictures backed out of distributing the film over its politically incorrect title; some viewers will be more likely to back away because Brooks asks us to work so hard for the laughs. Remember -- supporting the troops means supporting Bush aggression, profiteering, and war crimes. Here's an idea: why not take those ribbons, dip them in blood, and mail them to the White House?
- and brooks is from what ethny again? now try the inverse, an arab travelling to Israel to do some comedy skitGeorgesII