Review of Four Lions (2010) by Matt B — 10 May 2011
Some satire can leave you with an acrid, stinging taste in your mouth, Ã la Voltaire. Some satire can leave you rupturing a gigglegut over the pratfalls of the ridiculous, e.g. Chaplin's Dictator. Four Lions pulls off the impressive feat of doing both.
Starting with a subject matter deemed too daring for the majority of satirists to touch, Morris throws all caution to the wind in this darkly funny and alarmingly poignant tale of bumbling jihadists. Their earnestness is matched only by their incompetence, and the gags that ensue are deeply clever and deeply dark, with punchlines that involve accidentally suicide bombing a flock of sheep.
While some stilted cinemagoers may view Morris' topic of terrorism as "taboo," he engages with the material so intelligently and carefully that we identify with the ragtag group of lovably slapstick jihadists. One quibble that people may have is its ending, which is bleak to an extreme, but it lends the film an emotionality that its laughs earn.
This review of Four Lions (2010) was written by Matt B on 10 May 2011.
Four Lions has generally received positive reviews.
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