Whatever Lola Wants

I saw the movie twice, in Arabic although being french, born in Egypt I do not speak the language. But the movie so perfectly done, so well played that I had the feeling I could understand all that was said.

There is charm, humor, a kind of romantic atmosphere all along the movie. This is a movie in the line of The band's visit,The Yacoubian Building, Caramel, all of them realized between 2006 and 2007 and a must see for any open minded viewer who wishes to understand the middle east culture. And of course from my personal view point I could recognize some of the places I went through as a child. A great movie, a must to see.

Such a great movie that shows how beautiful and sensual egybt and oriental dancing is! Must see.

Watched this on DVD recently and found a delightful and lovely story. An impulsive struggling dancer from NYC goes to Cairo to chase after a boyfriend and ends up learning belly dancing.

Laura Ramsey is pretty and winning. It's a feel good story and provides subtle insights into the cultural and moral differences found in Egyptian society. It's not preachy but quite touching in the way it shows the attitudes of men towards women, divorce etc. It's not a tourist view of Egypt but an insightful looks into the society there. The human relationships are in the forefront in the movie.

The actress who plays the former belly dancer star Ismahan is quite lovely.

Definitely worth a watch.

I watched this film because it is mostly set and partly shot in Egypt, an interesting country. Dancing of any kind does not interest me, I might have fast-forwarded the dancing sequences if it had been a video instead of a TV broadcast. The depiction of Egyptian social norms and customs kept my interest.

The film is mildly sympathetic if a bit slow, a bit predictable and much too cute - every problem the idiot heroine creates for herself is solved too easily. There is a disturbing contrast between the realistic backgrounds and absurd plot. The leading actress is just right as the gorgeous American airhead and all the actors are credible as their characters - the problem is that what the characters do is constantly unbelievable. The ending is extremely lame.

The most annoying thing in the film is the heroine's gay friend. He is such a cliché, we have seen him do the same things in countless films and TV series. Why couldn't this person be an Egyptian woman instead of a gay man? That would have been much more believable and logical.

It was an average dance film, complete with romance issues, challenges that must be overcome and applauding happy end, but I couldn't help feel that somewhere in all that clueless blonde smiling permanent intrusion in other people's affairs there was something offensive. I don't know how Egyptians are, but I doubt that they are closeted Americans waiting to get out and express themselves to the detriment of all around.

The plot is that an aspiring New York dancer is pushed by circumstances to come to Egypt. She becomes the apprentice of a very good belly dancer and reaches tarab before the end of the movie.

Bottom line: there are some interesting items of fact about the Arab culture, especially when involving women, but the point of view is so extremely American that it felt fake. The dancer was cute, but she didn't strike me as very good, nor was she a good actress. While the film could inspire some people that are passionate about dancing, it has very few other good parts.