Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)

43% of critics liked it
(108 reviews)
27% of users liked it
(14,318 ratings)

Comic and filmmaker Albert Brooks serves his country while struggling to get some laughs in this offbeat satiric comedy. Brooks plays himself, a comedic filmmaker whose most recent success was providing the voice of a fish for an animated feature and who has just been passed by as director for a… More Comic and filmmaker Albert Brooks serves his country while struggling to get some laughs in this offbeat satiric comedy. Brooks plays himself, a comedic filmmaker whose most recent success was providing the voice of a fish for an animated feature and who has just been passed by as director for a remake of Harvey. As Brooks wonders what's going to happen next with his career, his wife (Amy Ryan), and his daughter, he's approached by government representatives who want him for a special assignment. The State Department, eager to better understand the cultural gap between the United States and the Middle East, have been directed by the president to make a study of what makes Muslims laugh. Brooks is asked to fly to India and Pakistan and bring back a 500-page report on Muslim humor; told the Medal of Freedom may be his if he comes through, Brooks accepts. With a pair of State Department officials in tow, Stuart (John Carroll Lynch) and Mark (Jon Tenney), and some help from a local assistant, Maya (Sheetal Sheth), Brooks sets out to find the funny bone of India's and Pakistan's Muslim communities, though it doesn't take long to find out what they don't find funny -- his standup act. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World was originally set for release in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics, but when they became nervous over the film's title, they dropped the project and it was picked up for distribution by Warner Independent Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Albert Brooks
Written By: Albert Brooks
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 20, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Aug 29, 2006
Studio: Warner Bros.

Critic Reviews

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
The movie has a perversely unifying effect: Muslims, Christians and Jews may not be able to agree on exactly who the heck Jesus is, but they're fully capable of bonding in boredom.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
I think this thing is just flat and dead.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
A comedian should never attempt to be a diplomat.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
I like all of Brooks's features, which are brilliantly conceptualized and deftly executed. This one's no exception, and some of the laughs are genuinely cathartic.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
For all its silliness, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World is also a work of integrity.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
There are stretches when one has the sense that we're looking for comedy in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World.
Paul Chambers, CNNRadio
Finally seeing this film so many years after I was told it was awful, I can't agree with the people who told me that. Perhaps I love Brooks' self-deprecating humor too much. Paul Chambers, CNN.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
If there were any justice, the garlands now given to Woody Allen for Match Point would be handed over to Brooks
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Odd comedy sends Albert Brooks to South Asia.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Brooks is going to India to shoot a movie (most of it filmed in New Delhi) about how to get laughs on foreign soil.
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
Looking for Comedy succeeds smashingly both as a comedy and as a savvy deconstruction of comedy.
Stuart Klawans, Nation
In Albert Brooks's new film, we get another plausible explanation of why we fight -- and it may be the most unsettling of all.
Carolyn Arends, Christianity Today
Those who like their humor wry and dry will be rewarded by a nuanced study of the way self-absorption can keep people disconnected, be they comedians, governments, or you and me.
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat
Looking For Comedy in the Muslim World is full of Albert Brooks' trademark jokes and absurd scenarios.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Brooks is an amiable comedian whose art is in deft but subtle deadpan humor, and for this movie I don't think the approach works.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Despite the potential for disaster Brooks sets up with the title, the movie is relatively harmless. It's just so very harmless that it doesn't make much of an impression.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Brooks é o tipo de comediante mais corajoso que existe: aquele que prefere ser considerado um fracasso pela maioria desde que, no processo, divirta alguns poucos que consigam compreender seu senso de humor sutil e auto-depreciativo.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
... likeable.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Albert Brooks is one of those actor-writer-directors who definitely hits and misses. Like Lost in America, this movie is mostly a hit. I laughed very hard for periods of time in this pseudo-documentary about Brooks' US government sponsored search to… More
Albert Brooks is one of those actor-writer-directors who definitely hits and misses. Like Lost in America, this movie is mostly a hit. I laughed very hard for periods of time in this pseudo-documentary about Brooks' US government sponsored search to determine, in a 500-page report : ), what constitutes "funny" in India and Pakistan. I loved sequences like the job interview and, especially, Brooks' stand-up performance in India where he redefines impromptu comedy -- and revives one of his very early real-life ventriloquist routines. More than anything in this, I was overjoyed to discover the acting and comedic talents of American-born Sheetal Sheth. She is definitely worth the watch, even if you've been disappointed by some of Brooks' work in years gone by.
William G

Brooks fails to bridge that crucial sar-chasm that transcends any language barrier.
Leo L

An interesting movie. Quite good.

Cast

            Albert Brooks as Albert Brooks

            Sheetal Sheth as Maya

            Jon Tenney as Mark

            John Carroll Lynch as Stuart

            Amy Ryan as Emily

            Fred Dalton Thompson as Fred Dalton Thompson

            Conrad Bachmann as Ben Wallerstein

            Steve Kramer as Sam Loman

            Kavi Raz as Translator

            B.J. Ward as Barbara Nader

            Penny Marshall as Penny Marshall

            Tony Montero as Don Budge

            Ajay Mehta as Indian Official

            Victoria Burrows as Casting Director

            Marshall Manesh (II) as Shaif Al-Rafi

            Kevin Mukherji (II) as Spotlight Man

            Subash Kundanmal as Pakistani Official

            P.D. Mani as Pakistani Comedian

            Homie Dorodian as Mageed

            Yasmine Hannaney as Receptionist

            Marco Kahn as Pakistani Comedian

            Emma Lockhart as Laura

            Paul Eric Jerome as Studio Executive

            Lynda Berg as Margaret Allenton

            Vipin Kumar as Customs Agent

            Avinash Kaur as Job Applicant

            Juliet Touzene as Job Applicant

            Sunny Raina as Job Applicant

            Rima Laham as Job Applicant

            Sanjeev Johrai as Hotel Guest

            Imran Mashkoor Khan as Concierge

            Kavita Ashok as Waitress

            Sandhya Bhatia as Street Interview

            Mitlesh Prasad as Street Interview

            Manoj Buxi as Street Interview

            Surinder Arora as Man in Temple

            Gabbar Singh as Guide at Mosque

            Raul Laskarov as Man in Bar

            Duncan Bravo as Stage Manager

            Barbara Ali as School Official

            Ali Supriwala as Fan

            Sankalp Rastogi as Audience Member

            Dhiru Shah as Indian Official

            Radha Zaidi as Indian Official

            Anand Vadehra as Pakistani Comedian

            Lalit P. Jobanputra as Pakistani Comedian

            Gagan Deep Singh as Pakistani Comedian

            Mike Akrawi as Pakistani Comedian

            Ben Anand as Pakistani Official

            Raghu Bhagat as Pakistani Official

            Ahmed Ahmed as Escort

            Sameh Sheik as Mukhtar Al-Mujib

            Shaheen Sheik as News Anchor

            Linden Soles as News Anchor

            Reena Dutt as Bar Patron

            Marshall Manesh
            
            Homie Doroodian
            
            Neil Patil
            
            Shelley Malil
            
See full cast