El próximo oriente (2006) User Reviews

Diverting comedy

[diarmuidsands · 6/10 · 5 September 2006]

This is a pleasant enough, diverting comedy. At the beginning it seems as if it could be a tasteless culture shock film, but over time this aspect reduces and a touching story of relationships emerges. It centres on the relationship between a hapless 'loser in love' brother and his Lothario brother, who has just left the Muslim girl across the street pregnant, but keen to continue his life with his wife. It emerges into a heart-warming story between the cowing relationship between the luckless brother and the Muslim girl, and his attempts to ingrate himself into the family. Overall, not a bad way to spend an hour and a half, the story is fairly light and frothy but nevertheless enjoyable.

Builds as it goes

[jogrant · 6/10 · 1 September 2018]

What starts out like a contrived infomercial to dispel confussion about what is Muslim versus the image of cultural repression many Muslim countries disseminate; slowly turns into an entertaining situational comedy. The situation is conteived but not unbelievable, and the protagonists interpretation is convincing enough to sell it.

Contrived and unfunny. A weak effort by Colomo

[el_monty_BCN · 4/10 · 1 September 2006]

MILD SPOILERS

Fernando Colomo is one of Spain's top comedy directors, but you would never guess it from this. The premise of the movie is hugely contrived, and once it is set up, the story keeps contorting itself into unlikely situations which are rarely well solved, especially towards the end (Pino piecing together out of the blue an incredibly complicated puzzle, the conversation between the father and the son-in-law which leads to a change of mind, the search for Cain in the streets). The love story is not very well developed either, there being very few moments of true intimacy or connection between the central couple. The worst sin is, however, that despite all the efforts the movie is, quite simply, not very funny. The few laughs that are to be had feel a bit forced, and the overall sensation is quite unsatisfying. A pity. The only plus point I can find are the central three actors, all young and still not very well known, who do their best with the hard job they have of making the story credible, and who one can only hope will get to work in better projects in the future. (OK, full disclosure - I'm a guy and I would also like to see more of Nur Al Levi because she's beautiful!)

Touching feel good romantic comedy

[sapientsue · 10/10 · 26 May 2007]

This is my first review only because I am bothered by the low rating. This was one of the best romantic comedies I have seen and I see a lot of movies. The ending is predictable, but so what, all romantic comedies are. The people who rated it low are probably not big on romantic comedies in general. This movie was so touching on many levels. It's the kind of movie that you walk out of feeling really good. The story is about a man who is jealous of his womanizing brother's ability to attract decent women. He takes pity on one of his brothers victims who is a Muslim woman with a strict father. He tries to help her and make up for his brother's indiscretions and ends up immersing himself in their culture. I loved that it gave a beautiful portrayal of a Muslim family. I learned some really cool things like how they give 2.5% of their earnings to someone in need (directly) and how they don't believe in carrying debt. This is not an award winning type cinematic masterpiece, but I gave it 10 stars because it's fun and has the ability to actually change your mood.

Edit: - I noticed that all the other reviews were from 2006, so I should mention that I saw this in April 2007 at the 23rd Chicago Latino Film Festival at Facets.

The best movie I have seen recently

[tvmost19-1 · 10/10 · 10 October 2006]

This is a beautiful and hilarious love story that touches on all kinds of very human themes like inter-racial romance, immigration and its effects on the family, sibling rivalry.. and much more. Plus if you have ever been to Madrid, you can recognize the streets of the Lavapies neighborhood. It is very authentic. All in all I think this is an amazing movie (which by the way I saw in the theater in Madrid) and I was laughing throughout the whole thing! The Spanish humor is great! If you're in the mood for a feel-good movie that has you laughing throughout and can even show you around Madrid a little, go for this one. The writers, director and actors have all done an excellent job!