Shirin in Love

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.

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.

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.

While not as sexually-sterile as Hallmark, it makes use of the typical HM plot line and is probably a PG rating vs the always a G for Hallmark.

That plot line is a female lead as feature and we follow her 100-minute journey from already engaged but not captivated, finding a more Mr. Right, having a stupid (and avoidably long) conflict with Mr. Right, and then finding magical resolution and wedding in the very last 2 minutes. Also aligning with Hallmark tropes is the male lead is not a man's man, but sort of bumbling, naive and unassertive....leaving the female to do most all the romance-advancing/saving work. Any normal guy involved with this girl would have not been as uncommunicative and weak-kneed as this guy was and the conflict could have been resolved immediately with a phone call to the girl before falling on his sword to the mother's trickery.

In this case, the lead actress is also more sexy and attractive than most of the actresses appearing in Hallmarks and we see her svelte body in a bikini. Her mother's contantly cleavaged attire will also drive Hallmark's pearl-clutching viewers to angst. Finally, the dialogue of some of the supporting cast is juvenilely sexual. All this is where the higher PG rating comes in. But, it is also a fair bit of the comedic content.

In sum, it is sort of a dull romance, but interlaced with some comedy and some heartfelt supporting characters making it watchable and modestly enjoyable.

I watch "Bridget Jones Diary" and "Sleepless in Seattle" again and again because they are good romantic comedies that make me feel good. Like these films, "Shirin in Love" is a pleasure-a warm funny movie that hits every note I need home alone on a Saturday night. Apart from the well-known talent Amy Madigan, the film is beautifully cast-from the star leading lady Nazanin Boniadi and her (possibly) leading man Riley Smith to some very funny cameos from Anita Khalatbari as the heroine's mother and George Wallace as Officer Washington. The soundtrack is great too, and I hope will be released-and its a good looking film. But the main thing for me is the story and I love it.