• The Infidel DVD Review

Hey folks, Valkor here. What if you're put in a situation where you know it could taint you for the rest of your life. It would affect your family, workplace, friends, etc… But what if the situation were funny? Well that's what you'd get when you mix comedy with religion, you get "The Infidel", directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by David Baddiel.

The Infidel Movie


The Infidel reflects on a Muslim family, the Nasir's, mainly the dad of the clan Mahmud Nasir (Omid Djalili) who one day, while rifling through his now deceased mother's things, he finds his old birth certificate. Turns out our boy Mahmud is adopted and what's worse… his real name is Solomon (Solly) Shimshillewitz . Why is this bad? For one thing, Mahmud is a staunch Muslim, even teaches his daughter to phrases like "down with the infidels!" Next his son, Rashid (Amit Shah) is about to marry the daughter of an extreme Islamic, and to make things even more difficult Mahmud's father is still alive, but on his deathbed and in order to see him he has to learn what it is to be Jewish, which is no easy feat especially if the Muslim community learns of this, he could very well be ex-communicated. So Mahmud seeks the aid of Lenny Goldberg (Richard Schiff) to help him learn how to be the best Jew he can be. Needless to say hilarity ensues and it's pretty nonstop.

The Infidel Movie


The Infidel might be a bit discomforting for some, especially if you're on either side of Muslim or Jew, and it might also be considered… offensive… a little. However it doesn't play too much on stereotypes; the film wasn't made in the U.S. because if it were it would downright raunchy.

The Infidel Movie


Yea someone in the U.S. should look into remaking this, but as it stands…

The Infidel Movie


The Good:

The Infidel is a laugh riot and a smart comedy from beginning to end. You pretty much know how it's all gonna play out and the film does reach a compromisable conclusion that should satisfy everyone. It's all about tolerance and really, why can't we laugh at one another? This film doesn't spit on any one religion in particular (at least not too much) but does play on the stereotypes, again, not as heavy as if this film were to be done in the U.S. Omid's Mahmud is like a Muslim Ralph Kramden (from the Honeymooner series for those who don't know); he's loud, he's overbearing and pushy, but he's also quite funny and he even has some dance moves similar to Ralph. And his wife in the film, Saamiya (played by Archie Panjabi) – totally Alice Kramden, even though Mahmud is the man of the house, she doesn't taken any shit from him, but loves him all the same. Richard Schiff gives an excellent performance as teacher, drunken cabby Lenny. I enjoyed the hell out of this guy! Pacing is pretty brisk and even and the jokes are well spread out, timed perfectly, and almost always spot on funny, which is good for me because as far as Britcoms go… I'm not their biggest fan. So an excellent comedy, great cast, The Infidel is a fantastic film.

The Infidel Movie


The Bad:

Honestly… there's not a damn thing wrong with the film; it's spot on perfect!

The Infidel Movie


The Ugly:

N/A

The Infidel Movie


In this age of religious intolerance, it would be nice if we could just take a step back and learn to not only appreciate one another, but have a good laugh at ourselves. And "The Infidel" is definitely a laugh in the right direction. Look I'm all for equality in religion and I believe that faith, no matter what god you believe in, comes from within. And there's nothing that anyone can say or do can take that away. So with that I say, live life and enjoy it for all it's worth. I'm givin The Infidel 4.5 stars out of 5 and it's been Valkor tested, TOV Approved.