The Infidel

Being a huge Omid Djalili fan, I was very excited by the prospect of him headlining a movie. All those ‘Arab scum-bag’ parts (in his own words) in Gladiator, The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean never quite gave him a chance to showcase his incredible comedic presence. So after years of waiting, David Baddiel has finally put together a script that gives Djalili a chance to do just that. And does he ever…

The Infidel tells the story of Mahmud, a liberal British-Pakistani Muslim man who goes through an identity crisis after finding out that he was actually born Jewish. In a quest to meet his birth father, he is forced to turn to a Jewish taxi driver named Lenny Goldberg (Richard Schiff) and learn more about Jewish culture and ultimately come to learn more about his own prejudices, faith and belief structure. Concurrently, Mahmud’s son Rashid (Amit Shah) is in love with Uzma (Soraya Radford) but in order to marry her, he must convince her fundamentalist step-father Arshad El Masri (Yigal Naor) that he and indeed his family are ‘Muslim’ enough.

First and foremost, it’s important to point out that The Infidel is very much the Omid Djalili show. If you’re not a fan, you’re not going to like this. Conversely, if you are a fan, you’ll find yourself chuckling away at his varied delivery and undeniable comedic presence. He really and truly lives up to his billing as ‘one of the funniest men in the world’ (as announced by David Baddiel at the film’s premiere). Sadly, whilst his comedic scenes are top notch, some of his emotional scenes are lacking. I personally found it very difficult to believe that his character would be married to the beautiful Archie Punjabi’s character (no offence Omid). They shared little or no chemistry and the scenes they shared seemed forced and almost unnecessary. Djalili’s chemistry with his son was a little more believable, but it’s the scenes he shares with Richard Schiff’s character that really steal the show. Schiff is a revelation as the wise-cracking Jewish cab-driver who teaches Omid how to ‘Jew it up.’ The script allows both characters to build a relationship and build up to a sequence of exceptional punch lines.

Though the plotline was likely to cause several raised eyebrows, particularly amongst the more conservative Jewish and Muslim communities in the UK, the film itself plays it surprisingly safe. Baddiel opts for situational gags or witty wordplay over building moments which have real social substance. The end result is an extended sequence of curious sights and belly-laughs rather than any true ‘Oh My God’ moments. There is no doubting Baddiel’s ability to construct sophisticated, layered jokes. However, he seems to miss the mark with some emotional scenes and ultimately delivers a lighter punch than expected.

All things considered, The Infidel is an enjoyable experience, if not as engaging as one would have hoped. The film’s producers, writers and director deserve all the praise they’re getting for approaching a difficult subject and building a film around it. As for the new leading man, one can only hope this is the beginning of a long line of bald, rotund middle-aged men taking over the film industry.

It could happen…