gregeichelberger
Originally published on Jan. 16, 2006:In an inspired cinematic premise, especially in these times, Albert Brooks plays himself as a comedian asked to find out what makes a large portion of the world laugh.Of course, execution of this concept leaves a bit to be desired, but it does have its fairly funny moments, especially in the opening moments, when Brooks aspires to be the lead in a remake of "Harvey." He fails to impress the director (Penny Marshall) with his desire to be "the new Jimmy Stewart," and Marshall's phony, "I liked your work in 'The In-Laws'" doesn't help his ego, either.At home, he receives a letter from the State Department asking for him to be part of a special commission deigned to found out what Muslims construe as comedy. He goes to Washington DC, meets former Tennessee senator Fred Dalton Thompson (TV's "Law & Order"), and agrees to travel to India and Pakistan to see what makes the population laugh (despite his assignment to write a 500-page report on the topic).He leaves his lovely wife, Amy Ryan ("Capote," 'War of the Worlds") and cute-as-a-button daughter, Laura (Emma Lockhart, "Batman Begins") for a month's adventure - not for money, but for the opportunity to be awarded the Medal of Freedom ("the nice one - with the colored ribbon").Brooks makes the point some might bring up that India is basically a Hindi country, although over 100 million Muslims reside there (also, it's doubtful Brooks, as a Jew, would have been welcome in some of the more militant Middle Eastern countries).Anyway, he soon begins his patented celebrity whining on the flight to New Dehli, as he and his two State Department escorts, Stuart (John Carroll Lynch, "Gothika") and Mark (Jon Tenney, TV's "The Closer") are forced to fly economy class, and are then stuck in a rundown office. During these interior office scenes, Brooks keeps passing a roomful of phone operators ("There are two spin cycles on that machine," "Welcome to the William Morris Agency," "This is the White House, how may I direct your call") in another funny bit.After hiring a lovely Indian woman, Maya (Sheetal Sheth), Brooks begins asking people on the street what makes them laugh. He is given answers from "I don't know," to "I don't speak English and please don't touch me," to a long and involved joke about being happy and laughing. Not garnering anything from this effort, Brooks decides to put on a comedy concert for about 300 Indians. This segment is pretty funny, as well, as few in the audience understand the comedian's humor (he tells a lame Halloween "Gandhi" joke, does a really bad ventriloquist act and the old "changing the improve" bit) and have little or no reaction to it.Later, he sneaks into Pakistan and does the same routine for a group of stoned "budding comedians" who do not speak English (it's a huge success), accidentally starts an armed conflict between the two countries and is offered a part as a Hebrew man who moves into a mostly Muslim apartment complex in the inaugural situation comedy from al-Jazeera, "That Darn Jew." The bottom line of this movie is that Muslims really don't laugh a whole lot, especially if the jokes are not funny (I guess that could be said of most anyone) and they do not get the subject. It could have been even more biting and daring, but I suppose Brooks (who wrote and directed, as well) didn't want to rock the boat too much.I've liked most of Brooks' work (he was great in "Broadcast News" and deserved his Oscar nomination; and "Defending Your Life," "Lost In America" and "Real Life" were terrific films), and while some jokes fall pretty flat here (as does the weak subplot of Maya and her Iranian boyfriend), this is still decent work.Yeah, I would have liked to have seen him do his stand-up in Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt or even Saudi Arabia, but I understand his reasoning (sort of). Plus, I laughed more often than not, so, as a comedy, it did its job for the most part, at least in my opinion.
farkomeister
Albert Brooks' comedy has always been too dry for my taste, but his latest directorial venture is absolutely pathetic. This movie is supposed to be a comedy, but it barely makes you laugh. Maya and the embassy officials are painfully unfunny, even to the extent of taking away some of the fun.It is almost a cliché that Brooks, as an American, has to explain nuances of the English language to the Indian Maya. Perhaps Brooks needs to be reminded that "Indian" English is more authentically English than the Americanized version. The concept of interviewing the Indian candidates near the beginning of the movie must have seemed funny on paper, but the end result was cringingly boring. How can you mess up such a perfect opportunity for laugh-out-loud comedy? His stand-up routines in the movie are not for the common man in the US, let alone Indians in New Delhi. The whole concept of "what makes you laugh" does not yield any comedy whatsoever. The sojourn to Pakistan wasn't even interesting. The Pakistani laughing jacks seemed more like drunk jokers than "aspiring comedians." The whole movie was so focused on Brooks that it seemed more like an attempt at self-promotion rather than entertainment.This movie is for you only if you want to bore yourself for 98 min, or if you're a Brooks fan-boy.
the_sarpo
I really disagree with the Americans who thinks they can make fun out of anything anytime. I watched the movie from the beginning till the end. But it was such a pain in my brain. No funny scene at all. No acting, no technique, No nothing. I beg you people. If you adore the English "Coupling" series and really think that the American copy version sucks, then you can fully understand me about what I'm trying to tell here. American comedy scriptwriters, actors and directors are really successful when they are working on something original, something genuine like "The Mask". They do it great when they are the master of the situation. But if you don't know so much and learn about it in order to make a movie, then there is so much thats missing.
ahsan-8
How come you show a non Muslim country in the movie named "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" Its completely wrong, I have watched this movie I did not find any fun part related to Muslims, It would have been much better if they shot this movie in Pakistan or Indonesia if they were in search of true Muslim world comedy. For instance in Pakistan there are comedy stage shows more popular than English and Indian movies...Its slightly biased view that Muslim world doesn't have comedy or they don't like fun, they do and probably same as any other religion. The only problem is that their comedy is hijacked by few fanatical extremists and media around the world prefer to show what we want to see,, terrorism, killing, nukes, wars.. all related to Muslim unfortunately in current era.however I like the acting and direction
