This was such a clichéd, badly written, badly directed dire excuse for a film that I'd be almost willing to give the actors some leeway for their woeful performances as if I was given this script I wouldn't be able to say any of the lines with much conviction either. But then I remember they probably got paid to inflict this garbage onto my senses! It's like it was written by children. All the characters are two-dimensional caricatures of real people so as not to over complicate the story or add any sort of finesse or intricacies that may at least be slightly entertaining. The main character is not likable in the least and to call his performance wooden would be an insult to trees! The only people who may come out of this with any dignity are perhaps the mother and the professor.
As far as the social commentary is concerned I found it juvenile and an insult to my intelligence. I was expecting a clever story highlighting the main issues facing muslims living in the US. A story that neither attacked nor promoted Islam but rather shone a light of truth on it and revealed both the good and the bad. Instead we had unbelievably ignorant characters attacking it from all corners so that it made it seem like there is no legitimate criticism that could be levelled against it. And when the film did finally try to show some of the bad, like terrorism and abuse, it copped out by never really exploring these aspects fully. I suppose its main goal was to show that you can't paint all muslims with the same brush but the only thing they say about the 9/11 hijackers is that "they're Muslim" and never really explained how they're in the minority and that the 9/11 attacks were not religiously motivated but due to complex global political issues.
The only excuse I can come up with for this film is that it was aimed at people who spell "muslim" with two Os, a Z and a U so that the filmmakers were too afraid to make it too complicated least they lose their target audience!
As far as the social commentary is concerned I found it juvenile and an insult to my intelligence. I was expecting a clever story highlighting the main issues facing muslims living in the US. A story that neither attacked nor promoted Islam but rather shone a light of truth on it and revealed both the good and the bad. Instead we had unbelievably ignorant characters attacking it from all corners so that it made it seem like there is no legitimate criticism that could be levelled against it. And when the film did finally try to show some of the bad, like terrorism and abuse, it copped out by never really exploring these aspects fully. I suppose its main goal was to show that you can't paint all muslims with the same brush but the only thing they say about the 9/11 hijackers is that "they're Muslim" and never really explained how they're in the minority and that the 9/11 attacks were not religiously motivated but due to complex global political issues.
The only excuse I can come up with for this film is that it was aimed at people who spell "muslim" with two Os, a Z and a U so that the filmmakers were too afraid to make it too complicated least they lose their target audience!