Room to Rent

We enjoyed this film from start to finish - it is charming, funny and interesting.

Fine actors such as Rupert Graves and Anna Massey provide excellent support for the talented Said Taghmaoui who plays the lead.

The plot is a little predictable, but no real harm in that. Issues around economic migration and the way women are treated in our society are given a light touch but are respectably covered. This film does not have the depth of Dirty Pretty Things, for example, but does not set out to have that depth.

The early sequence filmed at night along the Edgware Road in London really captured the bright lights and chaos of the neighbourhood. Do try the shawarmas in Maroush/Ranoush if you get the chance to make a pilgrimage there, by the way. They are the best to be had outside the Middle East.

Great fun, see it and enjoy.

Revolving around aspiring writer Ali's tribulations In a new & unfamiliar setting told from an outsiders perspective. The title, presumably In reference to his numerous different lodgings Is Initially a central plot line, as It progresses the focus turns to finding a Visa bride. Coinciding with the sympathy humour of Ali's beginnings being replaced by adding depth to his plight. Shame as for the first hour there are many funny moments - ie the "inspiration" for his stories.

London under the night lights looks great also rightly portraying a sprawling city that can be Incredibly lonely. The main character(the lippy arab guy from La Haine) Is very good both confident & hapless, Juliete Lewis' In character Munroe Impersonation again good although under-used. The supernatural stuff at the end feels a little out of place but at least has some reasoning behind it so forgivable. Overall a likable film just about judging the balance between light & serious, odd enough to keep you watching. Most Importantly a brit comedy drama that doesn't try too hard - stupid gimmicks, rubbish stereotypes, disgusting overacting etc.

This movie could in some ways qualify to be a farce, though it's not quite Monty Python. The story is about a hapless writer/student/waiter from Egypt trying desperately to stay in England, and all of the schemes he gets into to try to stay. The situations he gets into are unbelievable (that's why I think this movie should be considered a farce), but always entertaining.

BTW, if you liked this movie you might also like the film, The Guru. The Guru however is not quite as likeable as this film.

The adage is "write what you know" and so Al-Haggar writes about an Egyptian screenwriter who lived in London. However, he allows his imagination to take Room to Rent in a different bizarre direction to his life story.

Unfortunately his imagination isn't always teamed with logic. I didn't believe any of the story contrivances and the last twist is simply impossible - even if you accept re-incarnation really happens.

And yet strangely I was swept along and never annoyed. This is due to the believable characters, good dialogue and a valiant attempt to avoid cliché.

This isn't at first glance a formula film but Al-Haggar hits all the right structural points at the right times ensuring excellent pacing.

While the plotting is never convincing it is however always entertaining.

Very British film comedy-romance-drama about immigrants trying to 'make it' in Britian. In the same way that 'My Beautiful Launderette' was hard to categorise as straight romance or straight comedy, so is this, but perhaps it lacks the political bite of the earlier film. However it does feature a likeable lead performance and a plot with enough inertia to keep thickening.

The rather linear and limited appearance of Juliette Lewis is a bit of a mystery. I would suggest she was placed in the film, in the same way that 'Four Weddings And a Funeral' wanted an American actress in order to boost box-office. The trouble is: Juliette Lewis has spoken at length about her enjoyment of the script and how seriously she took the role. Yet her role seems very slight and a little bit of a blind alley. If the Mariyln Monroe impersonator looked and sounded little like Marilyn off-stage (perhaps with a Birmingham, England accent) it would have made more sense and the lead character's love of her would have made his character even more sweetly innocent and endearing.

The last half hour of the film seems to have come from an entirely different script, more fantastical and yet more serious at the same time. Perhaps this is the influence of the literary genre, magical-realism but regardless, it does make for a film that goes somewhere you weren't expecting and how often can you say that about a film?