The Reluctant Infidel
Don’t expect this comedy to add too much to the fraught topic of Jewish-Muslim relations. It tries to tap-dance in this minefield and it does make a couple of interesting observations, but it’s definitely more interested in belly laughs and gags than in world peace and reconciliation.
Mahmud Nasir (Omid Djalili) is a London minicab driver, Spurs fan and family man. He’s a pretty casual Muslim but his son Rashid (Amit Shar), is courting the stepdaughter of a hard-line Muslim cleric. To gain the approval of the stepfather, Mahmud and his family have to at least give the impression of being more devout than they really are.
However, by sheer fluke, Mahmud discovers that his birth name is in fact Solly Shimshillewitz–how Jewish can you get? This revelation leads to a good deal more than a simple changing of headgear and a re-examination of the profile of his nose for poor Mahmud. Questions of identity, nature and nurture, irrational fear of the unknown enemy and reconciliation all surface at times, but they are less important than the story, which is mostly a vehicle for the comedy.
Mahmud/Solly has to convince a rabbi that he understands his Jewish roots before the rabbi will let him see his dying birth father. At the same time he is trying to project the image of the devout Muslim for the sake of his son’s wedding plans. The two journeys involve a lot of very broad stereotyping before they arrive at a contrived resolution. It all sounds a bit lame on paper, but in the theatre with some nice performances and some deft touches in the dialogue it works very well.
A couple of highlights: When Mahmud goes to the registry office to view his birth certificate he becomes stroppy and is ejected by security.
“Look at that,” he says. “You find out you’re Jewish and the next minute you’re being led away by a man in a uniform.”
When Mahmud and Rashid are arguing about how they are viewed in their community and the harmful effects of being involved in political dialogue, Mahmud observes: “You and I get on the tube wearing backpacks and we get the carriage to ourselves.”
Omid Djalili is a stand-up comic in real life and it shows – both in the way he delivers his lines and his physical performance. He has a great face for comedy and the script does offer some little gems. I was glad to have seen the film because it was fun and it was a little bit brave. Less brave, it has to be said, in its treatment of hard-line Muslim attitudes than in its treatment of hard-line Jewish attitudes.
I enjoyed Archie Panjabi (investigator Kalinda Sharma in the TV series The Good Wife) as Mahmud’s wife Saamiya, who tries to make sense of the turmoil Mahmud unleashes on her family. As the mentor Mahmoud reluctantly turns to for lessons in Jewishness, Lenny Goldberg (Richard Schiff) provides some very nice touches too.
The Reluctant Infidel is an escapist piece of fun. The last 20 minutes drags a bit and the resolution is pretty implausible, but I enjoyed it.
Neil Wilson
