Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.


Last month while reading Jihad Incorporated, I was inspired to reach out to young Muslims with reviews of books, movies and music that will encourage them to appreciate the beauty of their tolerant religion embraced by the majority of mature Muslims. Hopefully you will join me in Operation: Muslim Outreach this month because there are lots of such things to review (for example, I just discovered that the former Cat Stevens is releasing a new CD soon!). The new Albert Brooks’ written and directed movie, Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World, was the first thing to come up in an Amazon.com search. I’m sorry to say it was my first experience with the veteran comedian of movies like Lost in America, Defending Your Life, Real Life and Mother, who stars as himself, an unemployed, desperate comedian with lots of pride left.

This movie, running a little over two hours, was an enigma. The summary and reviews on Amazon and Netflix intrigued me with the story and mixed reviews. After watching it I noticed that this site has great reviews on it too by fans of Brooks. I can’t tell you if Brooks plays violin to his past roles, but they can. I still could enjoy the movie for it really is more targeted to non-Muslims who just don’t understand Muslims at all, but that isn’t exactly what the title promises and will likely disappoint Muslims and seekers of more crude comedy.

Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World is the story of Albert Brooks who in the opening scene responds to a casting call by Penny Marshall playing herself. She’s looking for the next Jimmy Stewart for a Harvey remake and he’s quickly and amusingly sized up and rejected, though not to his face! At home with his eBay-crazy wife and cute, little daughter, he nervously opens a letter from the U.S. government, asking him if he would help the country to better understand Muslims by taking on a project for them, that of going to India and Pakistan and looking for comedy in the Muslim world. And they expect a 500-page report. Wow! He’s intrigued.

In Washington Fred Dalton Thompson, the actor turned senator turned actor, explains that Brooks knows about the president’s great sense of humor, ha ha, and he would be doing the country a Medal of Freedom-worthy service by doing this. He has the help of two dorky federal guys (played up by Jon Tenney and John Carrol Lynch) and a month starting immediately. Of course Brooks asks why they picked him and complains about the size of the report. The humor is easygoing fun, helping me to relate to his laughable situation.

We’re soon in New Delhi (and in one scene Old Delhi) for real and he’s realizing how little thought (and money) was put into this project as nobody there knows who he is (he’s mistaken for Mel Brooks) or about his project. You could say he’s like Nemo’s father out of water, heh. After procuring a cheap office and finding an excellent, lovely secretary amid hilarious duds, he takes to the street to ask people what makes them laugh. This is obviously poking fun at David Letterman, topped with a guy who answers with stupid pet tricks in a roundabout way. Eventually Brooks decides to put on a concert when there are no comedy clubs in New Delhi (or Old!).

The concert, after they run around to hand out flyers, attracts a packed house of Indians who, it should be noted, are both Hindu and Muslim, and they just don’t get Brooks’ satirical, dry humor. Truly they were the fish out of water and it was his revenge, perhaps. His secretary, played charmingly by Sheetal Sheth, was prepared by him for understanding satire, but the rest weren’t, including her Iranian boyfriend. They fight over their different reactions to the concert and at one point she accuses him of being Iranian where there are no comedians and he yells back that he was the funniest in explosives training. When this guy asks Brooks whether a comedian gets banned or punished for flopping in the U.S., an Indian government spy overhears and misunderstands, he he.

He does have an opportunity to sneak into Pakistan in the middle of the night, but to see who and why and how it turns out will be for you to enjoy finding out. Brooks also has a crazy meeting with Al Jazeera who would like to get into the entertainment business, but again it must be experienced. I relished the quietly satirical approach Brooks had to his situation, which isn’t the type to hit you over the head, but the type that makes you chuckle and wonder about it afterwards.

I love the idea that we can come to know who people are by their sense of humor and this is Brooks’ stated purpose for his concert there, but his purpose goes beyond that as he reveals how difficult it is for different cultures to appreciate each other’s humor. Americans will probably enjoy Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World best with its snappy lines referring to American culture (cynical of the government too) and Brooks’ career, especially if they can relate to the Jewish Brooks and don’t understand Muslims. Minor characters in the movie are revealed as anti-Semitic.

Brooks:Hon, your mother thinks Muslim is a fabric.

So my write-off has begun with a movie that reaches out more to non-Muslims, but the rest will be different. Stay tuned and let me know in this comment section when you enter with a review or even an essay. Please check out the informative site, freemuslims.org.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD