CINEMA REVIEW: Four Lions (15)
MOST critics have fallen for the line from famed japester Chris Morris that Four Lions, his directorial debut, is merely a silly farce about the "Dad's Army side to terrorism".
It's true, this new British comedy about four would-be British Jihadis is full of slapstick humour and it did provoke loud guffaws from the mostly young audience at the Harrogate Odeon.
But you daren't take anything at face value from the man behind classic comedy spoofs The Day Today, Brass Ey e and Nathan Barley.
Part of his genius, and I use the word deliberately, lies in the many layers to be found in his slyly subversive humour.
So try thinking about Four Lions this way:
The idea of four blokes from Sheffield training to carry out a terrorist attack on the London Marathon isn't even vaguely a laughing matter.
The fact the four of them are absolute idiots of the highest order makes the film funny but it also exposes the reasoning behind what they're doing as being as idiotic as them.
The fact people are going to die because of all this idiocy makes the whole thing seem less like an inevitably of the era we live in and more of a genuine tragedy.
Finally, you might notice that the authorities in Four Lions are nearly as idiotic as the terrorists and their actions are nearly as disastrous for normal civilians as the enemy they're fighting.
He's one sneaky man is Chris Morris.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Ripon
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
