The Infidel
15, Nationwide
I wish, wish, wish, wish, wish I had liked The Infidel better. I wanted to like it. I longed to like it. And I did think it would be a hoot. It’s written by David Baddiel, a thoughtful, clever and witty writer (usually). It stars Omid Djalili, who has a lovely, big, funny face and is always an engaging physical presence. The premise is neat and brave and topical: it’s about a Muslim who discovers he is adopted and was actually born Jewish. It sounded right up my street, as I do like to laugh at religion. Some days, I am so busy laughing at religion I don’t even have time to tie my own shoelaces, which is why I trip up a lot. But? It’s not very funny and, part-way through, it’s almost as if it tires of itself, and just collapses clumsily into a heap of tiresome clichés.
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