Nadim Sawalha Movies

The dysfunctional and multi-cultural Khan family returns to the screen in this follow-up to the 1998 hit comedy East Is East. It's 1976 in Salford, England, and life, as always, is chaotic in the home of traditionally minded Pakistani immigrant George (Om Puri) and his working-class British wife Ella (Linda Bassett). Their 15-year-old son Sajid (Aqib Khan) is a target for racist bullies at school and has been picked up for shoplifting, so George decides to take him to Pakistan to learn something of his heritage. Sajid, however, isn't at all interested in getting a crash course in Pakistani culture, and the visit to George's family is made uncomfortable by the presence of his first wife (Ila Arun), whom he hasn't seen in thirty years. Sajid feels like an outcast in Pakistan, but bonds with his big brother Maneer (Emil Marwa), who had been sent there a year earlier and his trying to balance his desire to find a wife with his obsession with Greek singer Nana Mouskouri. Just when Sajid's cultural confusion seemingly couldn't get worse, Ella and her best friend Annie (Leslee Nicol) arrive for an unexpected visit, prompted by George helping himself to their joint bank account. Directed by Andy De Emmony, West Is West received its North American premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An American girl follows her heart and her dreams to the Middle East in this romantic comedy-drama. Lola (Laura Ramsey) was born and raised in Wisconsin but has moved to Manhattan in hopes of finding a more exciting career, though so far she's making ends meet working as a letter carrier. Lola's secret passion is belly dancing, and she devotes her spare time to lessons in the ancient art; her close friend Yussef (Achmed Akkabi) offers encouragement, but so far she's only been able to perform in public at a ratty strip club. While delivering mail, Lola meets Zach (Assad Bouab), the handsome son of a wealthy Egyptian family who is studying business in the United States. Zach is clearly attracted to Lola, and it isn't long before she finds herself falling for him, and when he's called home on short notice, Lola decides buy a ticket to Cairo to follow him. It doesn't take long for Lola to realize that while Zach may have pursued her in New York, he's not about to at home, but she becomes fascinated with Cairo and decides to stay for a while in hopes of learning belly dancing in the land where it was born. Lola finds Ismahan (Carmen Lebbos), once one of the world's greatest belly dancers, and asks her for lessons, but Lola learns she retired in disgrace after a scandal and luring her back into action is no easy task. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Oil drives greed in Oscar-winning Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan's labyrinthine sophomore directorial effort that traces the corruption of the global oil industry from the backrooms of Washington, D.C., to the petroleum-rich fields of the Middle East. Based in part on the writings of former CIA case officer Robert Baer, Syriana combines multiple storylines to explore the complexities that befall a proposed merger between two U.S. oil giants. Reform-minded Gulf country prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig) is in favor of making his nation more self-sufficient rather than U.S.-reliant, and his money-minded Western connections couldn't be less pleased. Before settling into a cushy desk job for the remainder of his career, CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) is sent on one last assignment -- to assassinate Prince Nasir and reinstate U.S. ties in the oil-rich region. Though his loyalty dictates that Barnes carry out his current mission despite lingering doubts of a previous blunder, his mission goes horribly awry when his field contact goes turncoat and Barnes becomes a CIA scapegoat. Meanwhile, up-and-coming Washington attorney Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) attempts to walk a fine line in overseeing a tenuous merger between two oil giants that's plagued with shady business dealings. Hotshot energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) is in talks to form a lucrative partnership with Prince Nasir, though the death of his son during a party at the prince's estate makes him question his loyalty to business over family. Back in Washington, D.C., Bennet's boss Dean Whiting attempts to undermine Prince Nasir's attempts to make his country less reliant on the U.S. dollar by planting the seeds of dissonance between the progressive prince and his money-minded younger brother Prince Meshal (Akbar Kurtha). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The epic saga of the Queen of Egypt gets yet another retelling in Cleopatra, a four-hour, two-part spectacular produced for television. Leonor Varela plays Cleopatra, the Egyptian monarch who uses her wisdom, charm, ruthlessness, and seductive powers to work her way into the heart (and bed) of Roman leader Julius Caesar (Timothy Dalton). But Cleopatra shifts her romantic alliances to Marc Anthony (Billy Zane) just in time for Caesar's death and Anthony's rise to the throne. When Rome goes to war, however, Cleopatra realizes that she can only remain in power for so long, eventually making a late date with an asp when things get especially grim. This is at least the 12th film based on Cleopatra's life (the best-known being the infamously expensive 1962 version starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton). Produced by Hallmark for NBC television, this version first aired as a two-part miniseries in May 1999. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

After the death of Peter Sellers in 1980, writer/director Blake Edwards assembled a new "Pink Panther" film from outtakes of Sellers as Inspector Clouseau from previous movies in the series (the result was called The Trail of the Pink Panther) and later made two attempts to revive the series with another actor. In this case, Edwards cast Roberto Benigni as Jacques Gambrelli, a hopelessly inept French policeman who turns out the be the illegitimate son of Inspector Clouseau. Gambrelli becomes involved with the investigation of a kidnapping involving the beautiful Princess Yasmin (Debrah Farentino) literally by accident, when he crashes into a car driven by Police Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom). Gambrelli soon becomes smitten with Yasmin, while the investigation suggests that the kidnapping was set up by her mother, the Queen (Shabana Azmi), and her lover, General Jaffar (Aharon Ipale). Claudia Cardinale who played a different character in the original Pink Panther returns, while Burt Kwouk returns as the violent Korean manservant Cato. Roberto Benigni's Gambrelli proved no more successful at the box office than Ted Wass's Clouseau-like Clifton Sleigh in The Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), though after his multiple-Oscar winning success with 1998's La Vita e Bella, Roberto's probably gotten over it. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The demise of the Cold War rendered this flat and obsolete spy thriller, written and directed by Nicholas Meyer, mute upon its release in 1991. Gene Hackman plays Sam Boyd, a retired CIA agent, now making ends meet by engaging in industrial espionage. But Sam is recalled to duty and ordered to deliver a captured Russian spy, Pyiotr Grushenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov), to East Berlin for a prisoner exchange. Along with Pyiotr, Sam is also transporting $2 million in Columbian drug money to East Berlin. But due to a series of set-ups, Sam and Pyiotr finds themselves working together to keep from getting killed. Sam tries to get help from the CIA, but it turns out that the CIA (along with the KGB) wants them both dead. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Considered one of the great box-office turkeys of its decade, Ishtar was an attempt by writer/director Elaine May and stars Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty to do a modern-day road picture in the style of the much-loved Bob Hope and Bing Crosby comedy classics. Beatty is Lyle Rogers, a dimwitted songwriter who befriends and partners with Chuck Clarke (Hoffman), who is only slightly more intelligent but every bit as untalented. Together the duo dreams of becoming a big-time lounge act, but their songs, with titles like "That a Lawnmower Can Do All That," are unintentionally hilarious. Chuck becomes suicidal, but just when it seems they'll never strike it rich, the boys are offered a shady gig at a North African hotel, entertaining U.S. troops stationed in the tiny nation of Ishtar. On their way to accept the job, Lyle, Chuck, and their blind camel are sidetracked by a mysterious woman (Isabelle Adjani) and a scheming CIA agent (Charles Grodin), who are involved in a rebellion against the country's emir. The memorable songs crafted by Chuck and Lyle were written by actor and composer Paul Williams. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

The Living Daylights represents the first appearance by Timothy Dalton as "Bond...James Bond." Based loosely on an obscure Ian Fleming short story, the film finds Bond assigned to aid in the defection of KGB agent Jeroen Krabbe. 007 must prevent an unknown sniper from killing Krabbe before he can reach the West. The mysterious assailant turns out to be the luscious Maryam d'Abo, who, as it turns out, is not all that she seems. The plot wends its way through a scheme to trade several million dollars' worth of diamonds for weapons, which will be shipped off to mercenaries worldwide. The climax takes place high above the clouds in a cargo plane loaded with opium. Dalton would play Bond one more time in License to Kill (1989) before handing the franchise over to Pierce Brosnan, who was slated to star in Daylights but ended up being held back by a TV contract with Remington Steele. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on Paul Theroux's Doctor Slaughter, Half Moon Street is motivated by the moneymaking schemes of the heroine, Ph.D. researcher Laura Slaughter (Sigourney Weaver). Stuck in a low-paying government job in London, Laura decides to increase her bank account by working for what is euphemistically termed an "escort service." It is understood that her duties go above and beyond mere hand-holding, and Laura has no problem with this. Michael Caine enters the scene as Lord Bulbeck, a high-ranking British diplomat with whom Laura forms a "special" bond. Little does she know that she is being set up in a power-grabbing scheme masterminded by oil-rich sheik Karim Hatami (Nadim Sawalha). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Also released under the title Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear, this film follows the adventures of young John Watson (Alan Cox) when he is shipped off to boarding school and meets up with the brilliantly bizarre Sherlock Holmes (Nicolas Rowe). The two boys strike up a friendship and promptly become involved in the investigation of a number of mysterious murders. When their curiosity gets them into trouble with a dangerous religious cult, Watson and Holmes must struggle to avoid capture while attempting to notify the authorities. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

After a string of hits that included Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970), Papillon (1973), and The Boys from Brazil (1978), director Franklin J. Schaffner stumbled badly with this expensive wannabe cousin to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Based on a novel by author Robin Cook, this romance-adventure stars Lesley-Anne Down as Erica Baron, a female archaeologist who is searching for a lost Egyptian tomb, hoping that she will be responsible for the next discovery along the lines of King Tut's Tomb. Erica witnesses the murder of a native, Abdu Hamdi (John Gielgud doing his best Alec Guinness impersonation) and when she attempts to solve the crime, she becomes the target of a campaign to kill her using a variety of creative methods, including bats and entombment. In the course of her adventures, Erica also falls in love with a handsome Egyptologist, Ahmed Khazzan (Frank Langella). Sphinx (1981) was a box office disaster from which Schaffner never recovered, directing only three more pictures. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Famed stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen concocts a collection of fantastic creatures -- including a saber-tooth tiger, a chess-playing baboon, a giant walrus and three banshees -- for this follow-up to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Patrick Wayne stars as Sinbad, who seeks the hand of Princess Farah (Jane Seymour) in marriage but cannot get her brother, Prince Kassim (Damian Thomas), to agree to the match because he has been turned into a baboon by his evil stepmother. In order to receive the blessing of Farah's brother, Sinbad must travel to a far away realm and find a wizard named Melanthius (Patrick Troughton), the only one who can break the evil spell placed upon Kassim. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi