Four Lions

"What are we going to do tonight, Brain?" "Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!" Is it wrong of me to compare "Four Lions" to the WB animated series "Pinky and the Brain"? I don't think so. This film is filled with side-splitting laughter and satirical takes on suicide-bombers plotting one ridiculous terrorist attempt after another even more ridiculous terrorist attempt. Clone Pinky two more times, convert the four of them to Muslim extremists and place them in London in today's world, and you've got Omar and his fellow anarchists trying to teach the world a lesson.

Their incompetence is taken to the same extremes as their beliefs. Their possible targets include expletive-described Disney theme parks, their own Mosque, and using such genius methods as strapping a bomb to a crow, or to themselves as they are running around a field. You will laugh until you cry.

Laughs aside, it takes a special kind of film to create four protagonists out of inept suicide-bombers and emotionally connect you. And we haven't even touched the moxie that these filmmakers have to tackle such a subject. Comparisons to "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" and Monty Python are all valid here. Even if this story isn't your style, it's hard not to be impressed with how they pulled off "Four Lions".

Chris Morris has never been one to shy away from subjects that others would call taboo or simply just wrong and that isn't going to change with his latest film 'Four Lions' the story of a group of wannabe suicide bombers. Not the most jovial of subjects I hear you cry, but how wrong could you be? For here we have not only a truly funny film but also a poignant one and one of the best British films of the last decade. Meticulous to detail Morris spent over five years researching the films central themes of terrorism and religion and a lifetime of studying human behaviour and it's only with this foundation that he, along with co writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show), could have made such a brilliant film. You will laugh and hard, then you will realise what it is you are laughing at take a breath and then laugh some more. In the same way that the recent American remake of Battlestar Galactica dealt in allegories of the war on terror, politics and human nature but just happened to be set in space 'Four Lions' just happens to be set in a terrorist cell and in his own admission Morris admitted that he wanted to explore group dynamics that could be found either in a football team, a club of sorts or the guys in this movie. It is so cleverly done that at no point is the film patronising or preachy it just makes you think about the absurd nature of how people think and what lengths they will go to for something they believe in. The film also contains some scenes of the gang spending normal time with their families, even discussing their plans with the children and it's in these scenes that we given over to the idea that they are ordinary people about to do something extraordinary. The cast play their roles, not only with great comic timing, but with an understanding of the subject matter that reflects in their performances. The script is so sharp that not only will you miss stuff on first viewing you will be quoting it for months to come. It is well shot and perfectly paced but let's not forget that this is satire of the highest order and in that there will be elements that might not appeal to all. But if you think you can stomach it then let me assure you that you will see one of the funniest films from one of Britain's most underrated and genuinely talented comedians. Rubber dingy rapids.

With The Day Today and its more acerbic follow-up Brasseye, supreme satirist Chris Morris made a mockery of the madness of the popular media by saying what he saw. It was funny because it could have been true. With Four Lions, Morris's focus is no longer on the manipulator, but rather the manipulated. Yet by presenting this jihad suicide squad as a group of bumbling misfits, chugging along the road to apotheosis in a car fitted with dodgy "Jewish spark plugs", it's still about the madness – here, the madness of a cracked ideology believed in mostly because it's made up as it goes along.

This is not really a film about Islam, or even religious fundamentalism, but identity. Omar (an excellent Riz Ahmed) speaks fluently about the "Church of McDonald's" and Western imperialism, and yet he's at the centre of a comfortable, suburban, upper working class family unit. Hassan (Arsher Ali) is an awkward, gangly virgin with a bone to pick with his Media Studies teacher. Barry (Nigel Lindsay, who some might remember playing a terrorist of a different creed in HBO's Rome) is white.

For all their misadventures, there's a genuine tenderness and loyalty between these "soldiers". This is a side of Morris we've rarely seen before – an emotional spine that raises the film far above what could have resembled a series of sketches or, worse, a reel of better outtakes. Perhaps this is the film's greatest success: bringing its director out of the satirical shadows and into the comedy spotlight, and proving there's a heart to go with that clever head.

The film can be approached from two angles; as a comedy and as an important contemporary cultural text. As a comedy it succeeded beyond expectations. Part of the pleasure surely came from the spectacle of the event; a sold out screening with cast and crew present along with regional cultural references that resonated infectiously with many in the audience, but this can take nothing away from the many levels of comedy at work within this film. There were elements of overacted screwball comedy; there were underplayed facial expressions and reactions that added a wealth of character and personality to the comedy; further still, there were elaborately constructed situational set pieces. All these elements along with explosively dynamic dialogue that was well delivered combined to send the audience into tears of laughter.

In a separate issue to the comedy there was the cultural commentary, which is always going to draw attention when it is such a taboo subject as Jihad: a word that is often avoided at all costs. The film unapologetically offers a plethora of questions around motivation, meaning and justification which it never falls into the trap of giving patronizing, melodramatic answers to nor does it preach any solutions.

The many characters were all utilised to give different points of views and different perspectives; the main protagonist Omar (Riz Ahmed) was fully fleshed out, with the other characters used to offer differing ideas and obviously the above mentioned comic relief. Omar's brother for instance had such a minor part but raises questions around what he considers a true following of Islam, which he promotes as peaceful, but is then exposed as intrinsically sexist due to the way he practically locks his wife in a cupboard. That being said, Islam itself was to a large extent sidelined and the film much more overtly dealt with identification and senses of belonging for a demographic that has partial but not complete grips on the many angles of where its identity is created; this includes Barry (Nigel Lindsay), the Caucasian convert amongst the group.

Four Lions is easily funny enough to reach a very wide audience, where viewers will be left without answers and therefore forced to discuss these issues, which are too often brushed under the proverbial rug.

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Four Lions may be a black comedy, but the subject matter is anything but, dealing with the real threat of self radicalized men who take it upon themselves to wage what they deem is a holy war against the infidels of their religion, capitalism and Western ideals, about the men who are frighteningly misguided in their beliefs which we may find absurd, but they holding it very dearly to their hearts, nevermind if it's actually the blind leading the blind.

Co-written and directed by Christopher Morris, the film follows the journey of a few friends and acquaintances brought together by Barry (Nigel Lindsay), a self-styled firebrand convert and Omar (Riz Ahmed) the unofficial leader who assemble like minded radicals to take on what they felt is a path of righteousness and a fast track to heaven, nevermind if for narrative purposes his recruitment tactics is questionably risky at best (not to mention funny, I did say it was a comedy). It's almost like a satire on the 101 basics on how one transforms from all talk to all action, going on trips to Pakistan to meet up with mujahedins or holy warriors in order to learn the ropes in becoming soldiers and tested in battle, to the assembling of explosives, deciding on a target and then executing it, complete with the quintessential video recordings to explain the rationale behind the deeds.

It parodies many of what you've seen and read in the news, and while you may dismiss it as making light of dead serious situations, here's where its brilliance emerged. From within the comedy that come fast and furious that you find yourself inevitably laughing at the clueless wannabes, there are moments of poignancy especially when you realize that the wannabes have gone way past the point of no return, and with the wheels of destruction set in motion, there's no turning back really. In a way it reflects upon how detection of the clandestine activities may sometimes be stranger than fiction, but it is usually missed opportunities, especially with the countless of screw ups that go undetected, that serve as the real threat to society with prejudices and discrimination at play.

Ultimately those who truly suffer are friends and especially family, and the story does not mince that impact even though most are centered around the closing credits in an epilogue. Family isn't far behind especially when time got devoted to focus on the ringleader's, that here's a man willing to sacrifice what's worldly for a calling so perceived higher than self and for the greater good. Not only those on the other side of the law get put in a spotlight, but how the authorities and politicians behave got their fair share of critique, though in a fashion of less being more.

Four Lions adopted the shaky cam throughout which in a way tried to mirror a documentary, and to some this may be tiring to watch since the camera bounces around and doesn't stay still for the most parts. This is perhaps the only aspect of the film that I disliked, though you'll soon find yourself tickled if you pay close attention to the dialogue which were thoroughly filled with wickedly funny lines. The trailer may have accidentally revealed the funnier, slapstick aspects of the film, but its wit was firmly found in the spoken words.

Riz Ahmed is as charismatic a ringleader as he can be, and Kayvan Novak plays Waj his less than intelligent friend and blind follower with a sense of sensitivity that will tug at your heart when Omar realizes what he had done, and you'll definitely feel something for the Waj character when you ponder over how many real world counterparts who exist in the real world, being all too trusting with their leaders in being lambs laid out for slaughter, conned with an ideal of a promise. Adeel Akhtar's Faisal the bomb maker will nearly always make you laugh at his naivety and sheer stupidity, being one of the characters that draw the most laughs besides Waj.

It's easy to lapse into stereotypes and branding a message of hate, but Four Lions is nothing of that sort. What it does is to make one sit up and take notice of the troubles that are plaguing our modern day society, where there are those who do not feel inclusive, and decide to take it upon themselves to address their grievances through the use of violence. It's seriousness hidden under the guise of comedy, and I dare say you'll get more out of this film than from whatever else that's screening this week. Highly recommended!