I first watched the trailer for Chris Morris’ Four Lions without any sound and laughed for two minutes straight. Never had I witnessed such serious subject matter married with outrageous comedy and I was hungry for more. Upon watching the full-length movie – WITH sound – I was left with conflicting emotions similar to the dissension between the main characters and more questions than answers.
Four Lions tells the story of four – and later five – inept British jihadists who plan on bombing the London Marathon and their struggle to distinguish feelings and decisions that come from the heart or from the brain. We watch the deliberation between what is right and wrong and how those concepts can be skewed by blind ambition. While the subjects presented in the film are serious, you don’t get bogged down because the situations in which these subjects are presented are so ridiculous. The balance of this chemistry is carefully crafted and brilliantly executed.
The acting is spot on, the emotion is real, and the comedy is unlike anything I’ve watched before. For a movie to engage me in such similar deliberation as the characters portrayed is something special and something everyone should experience. If you want an intellectual comedy that will provide much laughter and shock as well, I can’t recommend Four Lions highly enough.
Showtimes for Four Lions:
Friday, November 5, 2010 7:20pm @ Brava Theatre (2781 24th Street)
I really wanted to like this film… but sadly a brave film doesn’t necessarily make it a good one.
Chris Morris’s constant attempts to turn it into a slapstick comedy undermines the important message behind the film and dilutes it all into a superficial exercise.
Not a disaster, but it could have been so much better…
Here’s my review: http://wp.me/p19wJ2-aq