JALLA! JALLA!
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
CAPSULE: This super-light situation comedy from Sweden tells the story of two close friends with romantic problems. The script involves formerly taboo subjects like erotic toys and sexual enhancers but otherwise the writing is not a lot different from what is shown free on television. The characters are paper-thin and the interesting ideas purely non-existent. This is a decrement-life-by-90-minutes card. Rating: 4 (0 to 10), 0 (-4 to +4)
JALLA! JALLA! is basically an exuberant TV situation comedy written instead for the wide screen. It tells the story of two park custodians and the problems they are finding on the path to true love. The film is set in Sweden where Roro and Mans (Fares Fares and Torkel Petersson) are custodians at a public park. Roro is from a tightly knit Lebanese family who control him very closely, Mans is a Swede from a much more liberal background. They spend most of the day in the bushes at their park, cleaning up after dogs. Roro and Mans each have girlfriends, but each has a problem. Roro (nicknamed "Jalla") is having family problems. It seems that his family wants to arrange a marriage between him and a nice Lebanese woman, Yasmin (Laleh Pourkarim), but he is already in love with Lisa (Tuva Novotny). Yasmin likes Roro, but does not want to get married either. Mans on the other hand has been having a problem of sexual impotence. The two friends worry about their problems and discuss the problems with each other. Mans thinks the answer to his problem is to purchase sexual enhancers. The one catch is that he is too shy to go in and buy them. Roro and Yasmin decide to give themselves some time by telling the families that they want to marry each other, but then plan to break up before the wedding. Not too surprisingly neither finds that his idea works out the way he quite expected.
The plot turns in several places are contrived. One knows fairly quickly that if things are going to work our happily for everybody certain plot contrivances have to happen. Lebanese-born Josef Fares who wrote and directed is perhaps a better director than he is a writer. When things start to get slow, he just adds throws in another story. For example halfway into the film Mans innocently antagonizes some local toughs and a long chase is added to the film. Characterization is a little better with Roro than it is with Mans who does not seem to have a whole lot more personality beyond fear for losing a biological function. We do see some of Roro's family life and his concerns. That may be because Roro's background is a lot like that of the director.
While the story was entertaining, I did not feel that I got anything worthwhile from the film. It was just a way to pass about an hour and a half in my life. One does not have to go to the movies to see entertainment like this. I rate it a 4 on the 0 to 10 scale and a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Copyright 2001 Mark R. Leeper