Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

Tonight I watched the worldwide premiere of this movie at the Second Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) with Mr. Brooks attending. It was naturally a full house but I suspect this film will fade in obscurity quite fast. To start with, it was not funny. And it had nothing really to do with the Muslim World; after all the movie concentrates on India where Muslims are a minority. Finally the plot itself is flimsy and I kept wondering how could Mr. Brooks stretch it to a full length feature. And I find using such a controversial title a cheap way to draw inquisitive crowds. The movie has really very little to do with the DIFF motto of bridging cultures.

Albert Brooks' films are an acquired taste. That said, his new film, "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World", offers an unforgettable trip to some exotic locations in search of laughter, which is something Mr. Brooks does best. The point of his film seems to be that by laughing during difficult situations will unite people instead of separating them.

This is a film that has a lot of laughs in the way Albert Brooks throws his one liners and makes a satire of the idiocy of the assignment he has been given by those innovative guys in our government. Along the way, Mr. Brooks points out at how other cultures, India, in this case, has managed to become an integral part of ours in the way most American companies have outsourced jobs to that country. That becomes evident when we get to listen what is being said by the telephone people that work in the same building where they have found an office for the comedian. Even the White House phones seem to be answered by Indian operators!

This film is obviously not for everyone. Mr. Brooks' fans will have a field day watching this unassuming comic genius going through India and Pakistan in search of fun, but alas, what's funny for us it's not for other people. One of the funniest moments shows how a worried Brooks misses the magnificent Taj Mahal because he is too preoccupied with the job he has been given.

Of course, Albert Brooks is the best interpreter of himself. He has a style that is not obnoxious, or in your face. His presence in the film playing himself strikes the right note. Sheetal Sheth is a revelation as Maya, the eager Indian assistance who can't get Mr. Brooks' jokes however hard she tries. John Carroll Lynch and Jon Tunney are seen as Stewart and Mark, two men appointed to help Brooks perform his assignment. Penny Marshall appears at the beginning of the film as herself.

The film will reward the viewer going with an open mind to see the film because Albert Brooks is a funny man with the heart in the right place.

Albert Brooks should look elsewhere to fulfill his quest of learning what makes Muslims laugh. The approach of this film and its execution are so heavily drenched in Western stereotypes about the people they want to study, it's a surprise the title doesn't use the word 'Moslem' instead of 'Muslim'.

Made in a sort of 'wink, wink, nudge, nudge' manner, it has Brooks playing himself at a point in time when his career prospects are slim and decent roles are hard to come by. Luckily for him the white house and state department come knocking and Brooks is sent off to the subcontinent to write a report on what makes Muslims laugh. Forget that India is officially a secular nation (the movie reasons there are about 150 Muslims there) or that Al spends in all about 15 minutes in neighboring Pakistan (an Islamic country), the fact remains that nothing about this film, except a scant few one liners, is funny or amusing. The list of crimes it commits with regard to typecasting is enormous and unforgivable – an office in the tech capital of the world has no computer, trendy young English speaking Indian women only wear sari's and the Pakistani's that meet Brooks look like bearded fundamentalists who smoke hashish- all of which shows great naiveté on the part of everyone involved with this misguided attempt, even if the irresponsible intent was to be tongue in cheek.

The method used by Albert Brooks to understand what is considered funny to these people is putting on a standup comedy show in both India and Pakistan, but this doesn't work too well. Was it ever considered by him that perhaps it isn't the understanding of the English language that prevents the Indian audience from finding him funny, but that all the gags are soaked in cultural references completely alien to them (Halloween, 'The Exorcist' etc.)? Or that the people being targeted aren't really aware of just what standup comedians really do. It becomes pretty clear that the movie is played for obvious lowbrow humor by displaying ignorance about its purpose that borders on being a sham and the real point is to milk the present hysteria about the people of the Muslim community and make some quick bucks in process via the mild publicity it has already received for its attention grabbing title. Give this one a pass.

Albert Brooks comes full circle as a star/writer/director with this movie. From playing a fictionalized caricture of himself in Real Life to playing a fictionalized caricature of himself in Looking For Comedy in the Muslim World. This even has Penny Marshall in the beginning like his '76 short film about a comedian school. Its been 17 years since this was released and Brooks is now in his mid 70s so I doubt he will labor to handle all three tasks again.

Brooks doesn't play as much of a caricature of himself in this movie compared to Real Life and thats for the best. He is playing someone who is a fish out of water instead of someone who is comically tone deaf while being in over his head.

Brooks' comedy is driven by dry humor and subtle scenes that catch you off guard with the humor. Its almost like they aren't intended to make you laugh, you just do anyway. Subtle humor is less appreciated now with attention spans about as long as short hairs but if you give yourself time to pay attention instead of waiting to react, then you will like this movie.

The plot is about Brooks being tasked by the state department to find out what makes Muslims (and Hindis too as it turns out) laugh and it centers around the performing of a standup act. It is a product of its time ("Wars on Terror") which dates it but I found it enjoyable enough. Deserved kudos for not being particularly offensive too. There is a subtle line there that does not get crossed. Some looking for reasons to be angry might try to find something they consider wrong in this picture but that's more on them and not the movie.

As I said, this is somewhat dated and it surprisingly coincides with the actual increased tensions between India and Pakistan that occurred in the 2000s. I cant remember the exact year their strained relations made international news but i know it was before 2008. This film is also daring for American audiences considering 9/11 happened only a few years earlier and Bush's wars were raging upon its release. I can imagine war hawks hating this movie for one reason and anti war zealots hating it for other reasons and the rest who dont like it never were fans of subtle humor to begin with. I personally just think of comedy when watching a comedy and find this to be pure Brooks. It is even the theatrical debut of some of his vintage standup material. It isn't his best work but alot better than the reception it got and rating it has. People treat it like it's as lousy as the love guru.

Albert Brooks is sent by the US government to India on a mission to find out what makes muslims laugh. Why India? Yes there's a lot of muslims there but most of the people Brooks meet seems to be Hindus. No matter what they are they don't think he's funny. And he isn't. Not in this movie.

Initially, most of the jokes are based on how badly planned his trip was. He gets to fly business class instead of first class. Nobody comes to pick him up at the airport so he has to take a cab. His office is small and has no computer, etc. Funny? After that, there is a slightly amusing scene where he has a conversation with his secretary, Maya, and they don't know when the other is joking or not. "Was that a joke?". According to his plans, he was supposed to go to Pakistan, but he doesn't get a visa, so he has to cross the border illegally in order to spend a couple of hours there with some would be comedians. This makes Indian and Pakistani intelligence agents suspicious, and there's almost a political conflict. Brooks realises he has failed and goes is sent back to the US. The End. His wife, unaware of his failure, thinks he's a big hero. The political subplot about the conflict Brooks almost caused, is tied up by means of on-screen text before the closing credits. The main plot also goes nowhere. I'm not sure what Brooks tried to do with this movie. It's not laugh-out-loud funny, and it doesn't work as a dark comedy nor as a satire. Unfortunately, with this movie, real-life Brooks ends up like on-screen Brooks: trying, but failing, to be funny. "Is that the joke?". I'll never know.

So what we have here is a movie with no real laughs and a premise that could be funny, but goes nowhere. Too bad, really, because I expected this movie to be much better. Not recommended to waste money on.