My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
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100% of critics liked it
(31 reviews) -
74% of users liked it
(6,586 ratings)
After the death of his wife and his subsequent descent into alcoholic near-agoraphobia, a crotchety Pakistani intellectual convinces his shady entrepreneur brother to provide work for his son in this multi-layered portrait of the immigrant experience in Great Britain. Young Londoner Omar (Gordon… More After the death of his wife and his subsequent descent into alcoholic near-agoraphobia, a crotchety Pakistani intellectual convinces his shady entrepreneur brother to provide work for his son in this multi-layered portrait of the immigrant experience in Great Britain. Young Londoner Omar (Gordon Warnecke) isn't sure what he wants out of life, but his uncle Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey) provides a corrupt, capitalist role model as Omar graduates from washing cars for the old crook to running his run-down laundromat. After a chance meeting with Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis), an old school chum whose flirtation with fascism deeply wounded Omar's principled Papa (Roshan Seth), Omar hires the young thug to work for him. Soon, the pair begin a romantic relationship that remains as under wraps as the illicit drug-running and enforcement work they perform for Nasser's associate, Salim (Derrick Branche). On the domestic front, Omar must balance his knowledge of Nasser's long-running affair with posh Brit Rachel (Shirley Ann Field) with his own loyalty and attraction to Nasser's westernized daughter, Tania (Rita Wolf). After successfully transforming his laundrette into a vision of resplendent pastel suds and providing a bright spot in his otherwise squalid London neighborhood, Omar seems to have a bright future in Nasser's organization. The spectre of Johnny's past, however, combines with Omar's conflicted immigrant loyalties to threaten the sense of identity the young man has managed to stake out for himself. British-born, half-Pakistani playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi won an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette, which was originally filmed for BBC television. Kureishi collaborated again with director Stephen Frears on Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Directed By
- Stephen Frears
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Sep 7, 1985 Wide
- Studio
- Orion Classics
Critic Reviews
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Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times
It's Daniel Day Lewis, taut, intelligent, erotic, who is an emerging star.
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Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
Fast, bold, harsh and primitive like a prodigious student film with equal parts promise and threat.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
This is a uniquely plausible portrait of life in England, yet its appeal isn't limited to social realism -- it also has a twist of buoyant fantasy and romance
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Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
This new British picture raises enough issues for a half-dozen more conventional movies. And though this approach makes for a structure that's a little shaky, the film somehow holds together.
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Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune
Director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi are better at depicting a new milieu than in making an important or innovative statement.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Daniel Day-Lewis
as Johnny
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Gordon Warnecke
as Omar
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Saeed Jaffrey
as Nasser
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Roshan Seth
as Papa
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Shirley Ann Field
as Rachel
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Derrick Branche
as Salim
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Rita Wolf
as Tania
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Dawn Archibald
as Gang Member
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Bhasker Patel
as Tariq
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Charu Bala Chokshi
as Bilquis Nasser's Wife
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Neil Cunningham
as Englishman
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Ayub Khan Din
as Student
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Walter Donahue
as dick O'donnell
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Souad Faress
as Cherry Salim's Wife
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Richard Graham
as Genghis
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Winston Graham
as Jamaican
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Ram John Holder
as Poet
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Gerard Horan
as Telephone Man
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Nisha Kapur
as Nasser's Younger Daughter
- Persis Khambatta
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Stephen Marcus
as Moose
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Persis Marvala
as Nasser's Elder Daughter
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Chris Pitt
as Kid
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Dudley Thomas
as Jamaican
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Buddy Uzzaman
as Dealer
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Sheila Chitnis
as Zaki's Wife
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Dulice Leicier
as Girl in Disco
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Sira
as Gurdial/Zaki
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Kerryann White
as Kid
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Garry Cooper
as Squatter
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Jonathan Moore
as Gang Member
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Colin Campbell
as Madame Butterfly Man
