Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)

Really forgettable and unlikable

Well first I have to say I'am an Albert Brooks fan for the most part but this movie just had DUD written all over it. The plot about a famous comedian...alleged famous comedian since the running gag of the movie seems to be that nobody knows about him much less cares tells you right of the bat that this is far from a "thinking man's" comedy as somebody else said. Age didn't matter either in me disliking (I'am over the teenybopper age a long, long time ago).

First the film drags on and on with unfunny jokes. Why would the government trying to soften relations with Middle East send Albert Brooks why not Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien, oh well. Like somebody else the stereotypical jokes (like the Call Center well all the technical computer questions in American are received by Outsourced Pakistans) gets old quick.

Even this side story (which I guess was supposed to be romantic) with Albert and his assistant Maya I think her name is wasn't really explored though hinted at many times (like her boyfriend is really jealous at her spending so much time with Albert). The jokes Albert throws at this Muslim/Pakistan are lame, very lame. Besides the character he plays looks utterly desperate in just compiling an audience to begin with. I guess this was supposed to be funny how an alleged famous comedian can't even get enough seats to fill a gymnasium but it just wasn't funny. Deadpan humor/Dry humor whatever you want to call it isn't always funny and this movie is living proof of that.

It's just a sad, bad movie. I wouldn't even call it "it's so bad it's good" movie it just really had nothing special going for it and you'd have to pay me to watch this again. It's gotten a 5.4 rating on IMDB which pretty much is borderline average to mediocre which is about right. Again I like Albert but this isn't his best effort not by any stretch of the imagination. It probably might his worst movie to date. July 2, 2008

"Looking for laughs" would be more apt

From the title and cover description, I thought Brooks was "looking for comedians." You know...we would see what was considered comedy in the Muslim world, performed by Muslims. Instead we get Albert Brooks doing a very low key (dare I say tired and lame?) comedy act and watching how Muslims respond. It's a 30 minute premise at best, but vintage Albert Brooks. If you have liked his previous work you will probably like this. I did get a couple of laughs. If you haven't...skip it. Unless, like me, you're getting it free from the library. June 8, 2008

Looking for comedy...

this film should have been called, Looking for Comedy.

I wasnt familiar with Brooks' work before watching this, and now that I have seen this film I think I will be avoiding this 'comic'.

The film lacks humor on every level, and tries to set up jokes that fizzle and fail relentlessly.

The story is starts off on an interesting premise, find out what makes Muslims laugh. It then goes off on tangents, tells us nothing about the Muslim sense of humor, nor what makes them (or us) laugh. The standup show scene in the New Delhi hall was beyond awful and magnifies Brooks' lack of comedic talent. I remember thinking that these people arent laughing not because they're Muslim, or Hindu, but because the comic is atrocious.

Other plot structures go nowhere, the assistant's jealous boyfriend for instance. This film could have had so much potential with the right script and right talent, unfortunately with Brooks' annoying tone and flat attempts at comedy, it goes nowhere.

May 6, 2008

Totally Humorless

What in the hell was this? We sat through it, wondering if even a single joke would appear. It didn't.

Written by Albert Brooks. Produced by Albert Brooks. Starring Albert Brooks. I sincerely hope Albert Brooks had a good time, because nobody else did.

I will be very generous here, and hope he had a point, and that it was that of the oblivious American traveller. He goes to India, which isn't Muslim, and manages to find an alternate reality version of the place so sanitized and Americanized that he could've easily filmed the entire movie on the studio back lot in Hollywood. But if that's the joke, it misfired horribly. If that's not the joke, then my opinion of Albert Brooks must go way down.

I really don't want to jump on a "I've lived in Asia since 1999" high horse. I just want to say the movie sucks and don't waste your time, so I can go type more words about a more worthy film. And really, all films are more worthy. This is bad. April 13, 2008

loved looking

Leave it to Albert Brooks, the man who invented the Mockumentary to come up with a comedy like this. I loved the movie. It was so clever and original.
Albert, what's next and when?????? January 7, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...