Review of Four Lions (2010) by Halfwelshman — 06 Feb 2012

Four Lions is certainly one of the most daring comedy films of the past few years. It's the directorial debut of Chris Morris, and he has transferred his love of satirising controversial subject matter on the TV and radio onto the big screen.

The writing is sharp, funny and hard-hitting, as is to be expected from such talented British writers as Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, the former of which wrote for The Thick of It and In the Loop, and both of whom still write for Peep Show.

The central cast playing a group of inept would-be terrorists are all great - Riz Ahmed's Omar is the dramatic anchor for the story, and the rest of the group is composed of brilliant comic creations: the slow but eager Waj (Kayvan Novak), the manipulative, arrogant white Muslim Barry (Nigel Lindsay), the moronic suicide-bombing-crow advocating Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) and the Toploader-loving Hassan (Arsher Ali).

There's also some nice little cameos for British TV favourites Craig Parkinson, Alex MacQueen, Julia Davis, Kevin Eldon, Darren Boyd and Benedict Cumberbatch. Four Lions works both as a witty satire and as an extremely black comedy.

It forces us to question our views of the world, and proves there is a funny side to almost every situation, even something as seemingly bleak as home-grown religious extremism and the threat of a terrorist attack.

It is, unfortunately, the kind of film that is at its most affecting and enjoyable on the first watch, as on repeated viewings some of the jokes lose their impact, and the message the film aims to promote feels a little more muddled and indistinct.

Also, though Riz Ahmed gives a great performance as the closest thing the film has to a protagonist Omar, as a character he always remains an enigma. We never understand why he has chosen the path that he has, and consequently the scenes where he is interacting with his son, who clearly idolises his father, feel a little sinister and without clear purpose.

Perhaps Morris and co. never wanted to provide an explanation for Omar's actions to highlight the senselessness of terrorism, but by making Omar so alienated from humanity, his potential as a compelling lead character is limited.

At least the rest of the group can blame a severe lack of intelligence for their actions, but Omar is shown to be considerably more level-headed and calculated, and being able to get inside his head might have been interesting for the viewer.

Even so, Four Lions remains an original, funny and exceedingly brave film, and I eagerly look forward to seeing what else Chris Morris has stored away in that twisted little comedy brain of his.