My Son the Fanatic

Om Puri as the character Parvez, opens this film playing a clumsy, overenthusiastic, embarrassing Pakistani immigrant in England, mangling the language and missing every possible social cue. Oh, no, funny little foreign man. Yuk.But then something wonderful happens. We watch... Full review

This is a great film, however I must comment that I have found many foreign films listed as "comedy" or "humorous" when in fact they are poignant, disturbing and brilliant (thank you netflix and blockbuster). "No Man's Land" and "Happy... Full review

The movie has a pretty good subject matter and exposing a diiferent side of immigrants pretty well, but it takes you 2 inches in depth of the main subject and then it keeps you there for the whole movie. It is... Full review

My Son The Fanatic demands repeated viewings for its appreciation. It is a dark comedy about an affable taxi driver in the throes of an alcoholic depression, and the eventual disintegration of his family unit.It starts off making you think... Full review

I was pleasantly surprised when I just saw "My Son the Fanatic" (I write this as the video rewinds!). I'm quite averse to watching gratuitous violence and listening to obscenities, and I looked askance at the cover jacket of this... Full review

In light of 9-11, this movie is even more timely than when it first came out. The clashing of consumerism and religious fanaticism is on all our minds. This movie's even handed approach and willingness to show both sides places... Full review

It's a rare treat to see a film character of such complexity. His story, a love story, is as homely and real as a wound.Om Puri's character is not to be forgotten and Griffith gives the searingly intelligent performance I... Full review

While this film is superficially about East Indian immigrants in Yorkshire, its themes are universal. Anyone who is or is related to an immigrant should feel at home here.As far as religion goes, these characters could be Jewish or Christian... Full review

My Son the Fanatic was a surprizing treat. I never heard of it before renting at blockbuster last night. I don't think it ever played in Toronto theatres. Never the less I must applaud at Hanif Kureshi's yet again bold... Full review

Went to see if My Son the Fanatic offered any insights into the troubled world of intra-ummah conflicts, the strictures that fundamentalists try to impose on ordinary Muslims and the ways we find to cope with them. No such luck.... Full review

it's Parvez who draws most on our sympathies in this moving, painfully funny film.....Director Udayan Prasad is scrupulously fair about the feelings of all involved....Parvez's assimilation of Western culture includes scotch, Louis Armstrong records and an affair with a prostitute, Bettina, well played by Hilary and Jackie Oscar nominee Rachel Griffiths..... ... Full Review

And thematically, the movie feels surprisingly religiously intolerant, right down to some cliched villainous character portrayals. That doesn't sit too well with his long-suffering wife (Gopi Desai) and his son, Farid (Akbar Kurtha), who has begun to embrace Muslim beliefs (this is the main story line, which gives the film its title). ... Full Review

He accepts, love blooms, the movie withers.....But that too proves something of a narrative dead end.....rather than cheap yuks, the goal is poignant drama.....his remarkable ability to transcend these scripted pitfalls..... ... Full Review

Nothing is pat or predictable in ``My Son the Fanatic,'' beautifully directed by Udayan Prasad, a television director with one prior feature to his credit. But in ``Hilary and Jackie,'' in which she played the sister to Emily Watson's tortured classical musician, the recent ``Among Giants,'' in which she played a drifter who paints electrical towers, and now ``My Son the Fanatic,'' she's emerged as an actress of tremendous subtlety and power. ... Full Review

An honest film that cleverly captures a culturally diverse Britain. Never descending into worthiness, My Son The Fanatic is funny, touching and mournful. Excellent performances by Puri and Griffiths give credibility to an unlikely love story. ... Full Review

SYNOPSIS: A young prostitute, Bettina, (Rachel Griffiths) forms a warm, platonic bond with Pakistani taxi driver, Parvez (Om Puri). But when Parvez introduces Bettina to a predatory German businessman Schitz (Stellan Skarsgard), he begins to discover his growing feelings for... ... Full Article

This article was published on 05.31.01 . A Pakistani taxi driver (Om Puri) living in northern England self-destructs after he is goaded into leading a more hedonistic lifestyle by a kinky German businessman (Good Will Hunting's Stellan Skarsgard) and has... ... Full Article

Father doesn't always know best. When he's a Muslim from Pakistan, living with his British wife and their seven Westernized children in a working class Manchester town, he learns a hard lesson about culture clash: Even his family won't follow... ... Full Article

T he ads for "My Son the Fanatic" proclaim: "A new comedy from the Oscar-nominated writer of 'My Beautiful Laundrette'!" And why not? Hanif Kureishi has become a literary brand name here and in his native England. ... Full Article

By KENNETH TURAN TIMES FILM CRITIC June 24, 1999 Friday June 25, 1999 "My Son the Fanatic" opens with what should be a high point in the life of Parvez (Om Puri), born in Pakistan, but for the last 25... ... Full Article

MY SON THE FANATIC Rated:R For movie details, please click here . With a title like My Son the Fanatic, you expect writer Hanif Kureishi, previously responsible for the pungent screenplays for My Beautiful Laundrette, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid,... ... Full Article