Good indie feel in a film that provides an interesting look at the Pakistani community in London and a good early performances by Daniel D. Lewis.

Certainly an original film. I liked its indie sensibility and its solid performances. Also, the character development was very steady and deep.... but what was the deal with that ending?! WTF? Did they run out of money or something to tie up the loose ends? And what's with the random bits of surrealism? They really didn't fit the overall realistic tenor of the movie at all. Still and all, it was ok... it told an interesting story well on an obviously limited budget.

82.875

Amazingly quirky and challenging (for its time). Strong career forming performances from both leads with real insight into the time in which it was set. Typically unhesitating direction make this a little gem!

There are a lot of well-meaning points made regarding culture clashes, the pain of hidden love, and the burden of familial obligation. It's not the acknowledgment of the economic doldrums of Thatcher's England that tag this as a mid-eighties British production, it's the earnest hesitancy with which it addresses all of its potentially combustible concerns. Instead of wrenching the drama out of it all, it's just politely tipping its hat to the audience.

Not bad.

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A bit bad, but a bit good. MBL shares more interesting ideas than culture-clash with films like Do The Right Thing. The whole film feels like an insular bubble; a social sample study forced to flirt with magic-realism. The spell is subtly broken by a train, as though characters can penetrate reality should they wish to forsake the madness of fiction. But I remained, escaping, and was duly charmed and endeared.