Dumb fun is the common denominator for Eid movie releases
There is a saying about Egyptian movies released during the Eid al-Fitr holidays. Or, if not, there should be: They are dumb fun. Rami Imam s 1/8 Dastet Ashrar (1/8 of an Evil Dozen) does not fail this epithet. It is one eighth Ocean s Eleven, one eighth My Fair Lady, and six eighths low-brow humor.
Of course, the guys will be too busy admiring Nicole Saba s, ahem, talent, to notice. And it seems that the girls are supposed to fall for Mayo (actor Mohamed Ragab). Particularly endearing is his ménage a trois in the back of a car and, poor guy, getting caught while sleeping with a man s daughter in the next room over. But be forewarned, if you rush to your nearest cinema just to see those scenes, you ll be disappointed.
It s too bad this movie was not being screened during Ramadan, when the great lapses in logic may have gone unnoticed. The dupes in the movie are, fortunately for our (equally criminal) heroes, very gullible. The audience is asked to be even more so.
The My Fair Lady twist comes in the form of Yasmine Abdel-Aziz, a crass, baladi, if you ll excuse the term, shop girl who bears a striking resemblance to Mayo s old love. For complicated reasons better left un-explained, it is the mission of Saba s character and conspirator Bol Bol (Khaled Salah) to transform Nabila into an elegant beauty queen. Oh, and she s also supposed to have lived in London most of her life.
So begin storylines of love, overlapping cons, and yes, even redemption.
Of course, the movie was never meant to be taken very seriously. You ll get a few chuckles, the filming is nice to watch, omnipresent Khaled Salah is in it, and it concludes with a feel-good – you guessed it – wedding!
What more can you ask of yet another typical Eid movie?
