Whatever Lola Wants

I saw the movie twice, in Arabic although being french, born in Egypt I do not speak the language. But the movie so perfectly done, so well played that I had the feeling I could understand all that was said.

There is charm, humor, a kind of romantic atmosphere all along the movie. This is a movie in the line of The band's visit,The Yacoubian Building, Caramel, all of them realized between 2006 and 2007 and a must see for any open minded viewer who wishes to understand the middle east culture. And of course from my personal view point I could recognize some of the places I went through as a child. A great movie, a must to see.

I watched this film because it is mostly set and partly shot in Egypt, an interesting country. Dancing of any kind does not interest me, I might have fast-forwarded the dancing sequences if it had been a video instead of a TV broadcast. The depiction of Egyptian social norms and customs kept my interest.

The film is mildly sympathetic if a bit slow, a bit predictable and much too cute - every problem the idiot heroine creates for herself is solved too easily. There is a disturbing contrast between the realistic backgrounds and absurd plot. The leading actress is just right as the gorgeous American airhead and all the actors are credible as their characters - the problem is that what the characters do is constantly unbelievable. The ending is extremely lame.

The most annoying thing in the film is the heroine's gay friend. He is such a cliché, we have seen him do the same things in countless films and TV series. Why couldn't this person be an Egyptian woman instead of a gay man? That would have been much more believable and logical.

Whatever Lola wants is one of those happily ever after movies that you can find every now and then but what will make you follow the story is the beautiful Egyptian dance and music.

I'm not going to take this movie very seriously since it was just very fun , casual and easy going Cinderella story and you surely will love if you are in your sweet sixteen , or even teenage years ,specially if you are a girl but older than that you may only enjoy the music more than the corny story which by the way was not even close to reality ! How on earth ONLY the talent can be enough for a blond girl to become a star in the world of SHOWBIZ in a country like Egypt where all the producers are men and crave for white blonds??? I rest my case !

Although i am partly Arab i rarely watch Arabic films. At the start, Whatever Lola Wants depicts its an Arabic film production and so i got back to my laptop. As it played in my DVD and my daughter watched, and to my utter surprise, in the 10 minutes back and forth between my laptop and the TV screen, i decided TV would win this time. I was so happy to see an exceptionally well made film that had Arab team and crew on board. A great production of the highest standards. A very good cast, colorful characters, several angels of the Arab society shown very tastefully. Really this movie is packed with cultural data, where there are common grounds between west and middle east and where there are divides in peoples minds. It kept my attention all through until the end. And what a beautiful ending. I would watch this movie twice. Thank you to all those involved in making this movie. I will surely recommend to my friends.

Such a great movie that shows how beautiful and sensual egybt and oriental dancing is! Must see.