DMANJAM

Atom Egoyan is a very skilled filmmaker that is exploiting a stereotype of the older white person's racism against a Lebanese son in law. Old white people are easy to pick on, Hollywood routinely allows this because there is little criticism generated from it. Does that mean this is right? I don't think so.

The film implies that a group of people (older white people) are "monsters." Maybe Atom has experienced racism from white people because of his Egyptian father, I get the feeling that he hates me for being white and 54 years old. I give Atom a 10 for the skill in making this film, he gets a 0 for the subject.

No wonder politicians lie, our society "can't handle the truth." No film points this out as clearly as this film does. I rarely review films but this one inspired me. Most of America is trained to lie and cheat in elementary school. We learn very quickly that the cheaters get rewarded, no wonder our political and business systems are such a mess. Ask your self what happened with Enron, were they really punished? A lot of them made millions and got away with it.

The acting was excellent and I was glad the actors were unknown. The last time I laughed this hard during a film was Waking Ned Devine in 1998. Was a little surprised the film is rated so low, there are a lot of movie snobs that can't enjoy a film with no stars or recognize Bobcat Goldthwait as a director.

This movie gives you an appreciation of how hard life was for our ancestors. We take so much for granted and this movie helps me stay grounded. My vote is a 9, of the movies I've seen recently only Apocalypto beats it. The subtle humor is fabulous and I'm sure you will miss it if you don't pay attention. I saw this movie at a matinée with only 2 other quiet people, matinée's at obscure theatres rock! Congratulations to Ali Selim on an excellent film.

The scene where a pastor is reminded that Martin Luther was German makes me think about how war (or perceived war) pollutes our minds and creates enemies of people we can't possibly understand or know. Babel and Sands of Iwo Jima are other great movies that point this out. All of us have certain prejudices that can grow ugly when cliques feed off each other. I guess it's too much to ask for people to have open minds. Thank the good Lord that we have movies to remind us that the right thing to do isn't always the most popular one.