Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

West Is West (2010)

Director: Andy De Emmony

Time Out rating

Average user rating

9 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

It’s hard to get excited about this late sequel to the 1999 box office smash ‘East Is East’. The 12-year gap suggests it’s no simple cash-in and yet there’s little feeling it’s a story demanding to be heard. We’re back in 1970s Salford where Om Puri stars as Pakistani patriarch George, who again precedes every noun with ‘bloody’ in order to instil national pride in the minds of his wayward brood. Young Sajid (debutant Aqib Khan) – sadly shorn of his trademark, over-sized parka – is having a tough time caring about his heritage. And so we’re packed off to an unfeasibly lush Pakistan for the rest of the film, where Sajid is grudgingly submerged in family history and George must face past demons which explain why he decamped to Salford and married a white woman (Linda Bassett, sadly underused).

With no culture-clash cliché left unplundered, Andy DeEmmony sets his camera to autopilot for a film which never decides who or what it’s about. There’s some formulaic fun in the script, mostly in Sajid’s curt, sweary reaction to local custom, but the film doesn’t come together, partly because it veers back and forth between broad comedy and high melodrama, but mainly because we never feel an iota of empathy for either George or his child-rearing issues.

Author: David Jenkins

Time Out London Issue 2114: Feb 23 - Mar 2, 2011

Email Tweet Share

User reviews of this film

corinne said...

Posted on Apr 01 2011 10:21 yes different to the original film but no less moving, in fact more so. Beautiful music and images. Loved the character of the wise man. This film made me laugh and cry and the sensitive handling of issues of identity should be commended. I've seen it twice and would gladly go again as there is more to be seen and understood in each viewing.

Report as inappropriate
farht said...

Posted on Mar 13 2011 20:10 hope its like east is east that wo 1 movie i cud watch over an over again gna go watch this week cant wait,

Report as inappropriate
J Ryan said...

Posted on Mar 11 2011 14:50 Time Out is Out -- don't know what they are talking about. Splendid pic, wonderful dialogue and stunning photography. Very glad we went. 2 OAP's

Report as inappropriate
polaripete said...

Posted on Mar 02 2011 17:16 Not as good as the first film, this one took quite a while to get going, but when it did (about half way through and especially when Mum arrived from England) it was entertaining and quite moving.
The comedy sequences, such as they are, rely purely on the Manchester accents and the (bad) language, there were no laugh out loud moments like I remember from the original but the music was stirring.
A little bit forgettable.

Report as inappropriate
Mike said...

Posted on Mar 02 2011 06:36 Can't think why they made this film. As TO says, it's cliched, and very predictable. Not a scratch on East is East, so don't go if you were hoping for more of the same - it's not. One star.

Report as inappropriate
Tasnim Akhtar said...

Posted on Mar 01 2011 20:55 What is the age rating on this film gunna watch it tommorow

Report as inappropriate
DanielleBobbi said...

Posted on Feb 28 2011 08:36 Really enjoyed this film, was really good, loved the way it was set quite a few years ago too, in my opinion i prefferred east is east but i suppose its everyone to their own.

Report as inappropriate
shanaz said...

Posted on Feb 27 2011 23:11 I watched the film with my friends and family (all second and third generation British Bangladeshis) and thoroughly enjoyed it as we could all relate to how our parents struggled to bring us up in the cold North of England whilst remaining loyal to their poor relatives they had left behind in sunny lush Bangladesh. I would have enjoyed the film more if they had shown more of Sajid's brothers and sister, Meena.

Report as inappropriate
saf akhter said...

Posted on Feb 25 2011 20:56 it sounds wicked!! cant wait to c the film which i am today lets c hw it is thn i'll write about it a bit more so viewers nw how it is.

Report as inappropriate