Still looking for comedy

Lacklustre movie leaves audience unimpressed

Laura Blakley Staff

Beware ye, of they who write, direct and cast themselves as the lead in any film. I’d always wondered what kind of chutzpah you’d need to do that, and later I found ways to justify it, thinking that perhaps they couldn’t find anyone who properly shared their vision. Or maybe the director was such a perfectionist that in order to work with him or her, an actor would have to be insane. Such is not the case with Albert Brooks’s latest work, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World.

The movie’s premise has potential. The U.S. government wants to improve relations with the Middle East and so has sent an out-of-work actor, Albert Brooks, to learn what makes Muslim people laugh. He is to spend a month in India and Pakistan, find out what’s funny and then write a 500-page report for the U.S. government.

At its worst, this idea could be horribly offensive. At its best, it could be more self-deprecating than racist, letting North Americans laugh at themselves. It could even be a movie that’s funny across every culture. “Polish jokes are universal,” Brooks said, playing himself, and as soon as I heard those words I was worried about which category this movie would fall under.

Once the film got into full swing — well, it never really got into full swing — the comic arrives in India and then wanders around a lot. Albert Brooks, who plays himself in the movie, really likes to complain. It’s as if every small thing that happens (he was put on a flight to India in coach, not first class; his office doesn’t have a calendar when he first comes in; he has to write a 500-page report) is the most torturous ordeal to have ever been braved by humanity. His character has the wherewithal to ask about India’s population, stating that many of them are Hindu, not Muslim, and yet he doesn’t seem to realize that he should speak to people in their own language rather than address only those who are fluent in English in order to get to know the culture as a whole.

The funniest jokes in the movie were probably unintentional, like the fact that people recognized Brooks from his last big movie, Finding Nemo, before they had heard him speak. (The man doesn’t resemble a cartoon fish as far as I can tell, but perhaps his reputation preceded him.)

Most of the actors boast an impressive resumé, but Sheetal Sheth, who plays Brooks’s assistant, was the only one whose manner didn’t seem forced and who spoke her lines (mostly about learning sarcasm) as if they were her own words. Some people say that comedy is harder than tragedy, and certainly telling jokes in a foreign language is tricky at best, but I’m glad to see that nothing in Looking for Comedy was lost in translation; it wasn’t funny in English, either.





Volume 93 • Issue 20	The Official University of Manitoba Students' Newspaper Website	February 1, 2006

Home About Us Advertise Contact Staff Current Issue PDF Employment Letters to the Editor Meet the Staff Online Archives Personals Volunteer	Font Size Respond Email Print-Friendly Still looking for comedy Lacklustre movie leaves audience unimpressed Laura Blakley Staff Beware ye, of they who write, direct and cast themselves as the lead in any film. I’d always wondered what kind of chutzpah you’d need to do that, and later I found ways to justify it, thinking that perhaps they couldn’t find anyone who properly shared their vision. Or maybe the director was such a perfectionist that in order to work with him or her, an actor would have to be insane. Such is not the case with Albert Brooks’s latest work, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. The movie’s premise has potential. The U.S. government wants to improve relations with the Middle East and so has sent an out-of-work actor, Albert Brooks, to learn what makes Muslim people laugh. He is to spend a month in India and Pakistan, find out what’s funny and then write a 500-page report for the U.S. government. At its worst, this idea could be horribly offensive. At its best, it could be more self-deprecating than racist, letting North Americans laugh at themselves. It could even be a movie that’s funny across every culture. “Polish jokes are universal,” Brooks said, playing himself, and as soon as I heard those words I was worried about which category this movie would fall under. Once the film got into full swing — well, it never really got into full swing — the comic arrives in India and then wanders around a lot. Albert Brooks, who plays himself in the movie, really likes to complain. It’s as if every small thing that happens (he was put on a flight to India in coach, not first class; his office doesn’t have a calendar when he first comes in; he has to write a 500-page report) is the most torturous ordeal to have ever been braved by humanity. His character has the wherewithal to ask about India’s population, stating that many of them are Hindu, not Muslim, and yet he doesn’t seem to realize that he should speak to people in their own language rather than address only those who are fluent in English in order to get to know the culture as a whole. The funniest jokes in the movie were probably unintentional, like the fact that people recognized Brooks from his last big movie, Finding Nemo, before they had heard him speak. (The man doesn’t resemble a cartoon fish as far as I can tell, but perhaps his reputation preceded him.) Most of the actors boast an impressive resumé, but Sheetal Sheth, who plays Brooks’s assistant, was the only one whose manner didn’t seem forced and who spoke her lines (mostly about learning sarcasm) as if they were her own words. Some people say that comedy is harder than tragedy, and certainly telling jokes in a foreign language is tricky at best, but I’m glad to see that nothing in Looking for Comedy was lost in translation; it wasn’t funny in English, either.


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