***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** What sort of film do you get when you cross a Lebanese marriage, a Swedish girlfriend, a manic muscle head with a dog called Rambo and sexual impotence? You get the riotous romp, Jalla Jalla, a fantastic film from Lebanese born director Josef Fares.
Best friends Mans and Roro are in their twenties and work as park attendants cleaning the duck pond and picking up dog s***, but nevertheless still think they are cool! Their lives stroll calmly and peacefully along until, suddenly, Mans can't get it up for his wife any more and Roro finds out he has only a week to avoid being married off to a good Lebanese girl by his father!
Roro has a Swedish girlfriend he has been planning to introduce to his strict family but has lacked the courage until it's too late. Now his father has brokered an arrangement for him to marry the teenage Yasmin, and her brother seals the deal. Neither of the youngsters wants to get married but they pretend to agree to buy some time. Meanwhile Mans tries everything to correct his problem, from sexual games to whips, a penis enlarger and a gigantic dildo!
All this might seem a little sick and perverted, but the style with which Josef handles it is to his credit. There is barely a moment in the film where you are not either laughing out loud or enjoying the wry comedy that comes from cultures colliding.
Josef's real life dad plays the father in this film to his real life son, so Jalla Jalla is a real family affair. The dad is very funny, especially in the way he deals with any trouble. I have a 'gut' instinct he would be very handy in a fight!
The film's title translates as 'Hurry! Hurry!' from its native Arabic and serves as a good description of the frenetic pace of this charming comedic look at cross-cultural clashes and love in times of integration. 9 out of 10.
Best friends Mans and Roro are in their twenties and work as park attendants cleaning the duck pond and picking up dog s***, but nevertheless still think they are cool! Their lives stroll calmly and peacefully along until, suddenly, Mans can't get it up for his wife any more and Roro finds out he has only a week to avoid being married off to a good Lebanese girl by his father!
Roro has a Swedish girlfriend he has been planning to introduce to his strict family but has lacked the courage until it's too late. Now his father has brokered an arrangement for him to marry the teenage Yasmin, and her brother seals the deal. Neither of the youngsters wants to get married but they pretend to agree to buy some time. Meanwhile Mans tries everything to correct his problem, from sexual games to whips, a penis enlarger and a gigantic dildo!
All this might seem a little sick and perverted, but the style with which Josef handles it is to his credit. There is barely a moment in the film where you are not either laughing out loud or enjoying the wry comedy that comes from cultures colliding.
Josef's real life dad plays the father in this film to his real life son, so Jalla Jalla is a real family affair. The dad is very funny, especially in the way he deals with any trouble. I have a 'gut' instinct he would be very handy in a fight!
The film's title translates as 'Hurry! Hurry!' from its native Arabic and serves as a good description of the frenetic pace of this charming comedic look at cross-cultural clashes and love in times of integration. 9 out of 10.