Shirin in Love

With a cast that includes Maz Jobrani, Max Amini, Marshall Manesh and Anita Khalatbari, I was expecting a Persian comedy, but the film "Shirin in Love" is, in fact, a romantic movie - a "chick flick" even. While the film's location, costumes and props were fine, its writing, directing and editing were terrible. The porno-style filming, soap opera-style acting, nonsensical still shots, disconnected scenes, stereotypical characters, weak plot and cheap humor are just a few of the film's shortcomings. The film's one bright spot is Nazanin Boniadi, who portrays Shirin. Even in a bad film you can spot a shining star. She certainly has a bright future. I don't understand why she decided to appear in this film, given her well-established career with feature roles in "Homeland," "Grey's Anatomy," and "How I Met Your Mother." The film did little to enhance the reputations of Maz Jobrani and Max Amini, and may even have hurt them.

Despite my lack of love for chick flicks, and that is coming from a woman, I really enjoyed this film. Yes it is a chick flick but it shows life learning experiences and it's not your normal cliché COMPLETE happy ending. Putting two completely different cultures together is what made it interesting as well. There's so much to learn from Persian culture and seeing an American in a Persian setting can be comical. The actors were amazing. From Nazanin Boniadi to Riley Smith and Maz Jobrani who brings even more humor to the table along side Max Amini. They both did a good job of making their characters shine and make you laugh in almost every scene they are in. You can tell that they all worked together to bring the script to life. Overall, I found the storyline intriguing and the settings from northern California breath taking as well. I think that the film did a good job of keeping me drawn in like a good film should.

Shirin in Love is a movie about a young lady following tradition and getting engaged to a successful plastic surgeon and although she has a very successful prodession as well Shirin wants to become a professional journalists and to get her career kicked off Sjirin gets assistance from working for her mothers magazine and Shirin reviews Novels and their authors.

Nazanin Boniadi plays Shirin and while watching this movie I was like I have seen her before and while doing my IMDB research I noticed that she played Ferah Sherazi in Homeland and I remember that performance and it was excellent and this role is no different well performed.

The only issue I had with her Character Shirin in this movie is the fact that she is actually 12 years younger than Maz Jobrani playing Mike her Fiance and it was like watching Shirin getting married to a father figure.

We also had another standup comedian also in this movie actually good mates with Maz Jobrani and that is Max Amini he plays Ed a chiropracter that loves fixing ladies tail bones :) Having two standup comedians there was a lot of jokes and it was really funny. But my favourite joke was from Shirin and it was all about having a good head and I am keeping that clean because it was said another way.

The musci was great a mix of Persian and English songs that fit well. You also if you pay attention can see the singer Andy in the movie and Black Cats both are well known Persian musical stars.

The movie has heart and you really will enjoy this light romantic comedy and I highly recommend this to the Persian community to understand its ok to allow your kids to Marry outside your cultural and religious backgrounds.. Add this to your list and watch this with your partner.

The story itself was beautiful. Its one that many Iranian American girls can relate to. This movie shows the struggles of a Persian girl who has adapted to the American culture while her parents are still living a Persian life style. I loved having a English speaking Iranian movie which showed Persian life in the U.S. Although it might have had a few short comings, it was entertaining and one of a kind. The best part of the movie is if any people who aren't Persian watch it, they will still understand the movie, get a little insight into the culture and feel like the movie was directed towards everyone, not just English speaking Persian. I hope to see more movies like it in the future that are made in the U.S for Persian-Americans.

I totally disagree with the Dr and the other reviewer who gave very scathing reviews of this wonderful film. Coming from someone who knows absolutely nothing about the Iranian culture, I enjoyed learning a few things about the culture. I thought the acting was actually great because it wasn't over the top or overstated. It was very natural, and I thought the performance by Amy Madigan was fantastic. The two leads were also fantastic, especially Riley Smith. It was a film that made me laugh, made me cry, and ticked all the boxes of a rom com/chick flick and this coming from a guy. Congrats to the producers and director of this film for bringing out the best in the actors and the settings. Also congrats to the cinematographer Garrett Shannon who shot some fantastic scenes, especially those beautiful shots in Northern California. If anyone knows where exactly this is in north California I'd love to know. Cheers to all cast and crew for a FANTASTIC movie. You should be proud!