gregeichelberger Originally published on Jan. 16, 2006:In an inspired cinematic premise, especially in these times, Albert Brooks plays himself as a comedian asked to find out what makes a large portion of the world laugh.Of course, execution of this concept leaves a bit to be desired, but it does have its fairly funny moments, especially in the opening moments, when Brooks aspires to be the lead in a remake of "Harvey." He fails to impress the director (Penny Marshall) with his desire to be "the new Jimmy Stewart," and Marshall's phony, "I liked your work in 'The In-Laws'" doesn't help his ego, either.At home, he receives a letter from the State Department asking for him to be part of a special commission deigned to found out what Muslims construe as comedy. He goes to Washington DC, meets former Tennessee senator Fred Dalton Thompson (TV's "Law & Order"), and agrees to travel to India and Pakistan to see what makes the population laugh (despite his assignment to write a 500-page report on the topic).He leaves his lovely wife, Amy Ryan ("Capote," 'War of the Worlds") and cute-as-a-button daughter, Laura (Emma Lockhart, "Batman Begins") for a month's adventure - not for money, but for the opportunity to be awarded the Medal of Freedom ("the nice one - with the colored ribbon").Brooks makes the point some might bring up that India is basically a Hindi country, although over 100 million Muslims reside there (also, it's doubtful Brooks, as a Jew, would have been welcome in some of the more militant Middle Eastern countries).Anyway, he soon begins his patented celebrity whining on the flight to New Dehli, as he and his two State Department escorts, Stuart (John Carroll Lynch, "Gothika") and Mark (Jon Tenney, TV's "The Closer") are forced to fly economy class, and are then stuck in a rundown office. During these interior office scenes, Brooks keeps passing a roomful of phone operators ("There are two spin cycles on that machine," "Welcome to the William Morris Agency," "This is the White House, how may I direct your call") in another funny bit.After hiring a lovely Indian woman, Maya (Sheetal Sheth), Brooks begins asking people on the street what makes them laugh. He is given answers from "I don't know," to "I don't speak English and please don't touch me," to a long and involved joke about being happy and laughing. Not garnering anything from this effort, Brooks decides to put on a comedy concert for about 300 Indians. This segment is pretty funny, as well, as few in the audience understand the comedian's humor (he tells a lame Halloween "Gandhi" joke, does a really bad ventriloquist act and the old "changing the improve" bit) and have little or no reaction to it.Later, he sneaks into Pakistan and does the same routine for a group of stoned "budding comedians" who do not speak English (it's a huge success), accidentally starts an armed conflict between the two countries and is offered a part as a Hebrew man who moves into a mostly Muslim apartment complex in the inaugural situation comedy from al-Jazeera, "That Darn Jew." The bottom line of this movie is that Muslims really don't laugh a whole lot, especially if the jokes are not funny (I guess that could be said of most anyone) and they do not get the subject. It could have been even more biting and daring, but I suppose Brooks (who wrote and directed, as well) didn't want to rock the boat too much.I've liked most of Brooks' work (he was great in "Broadcast News" and deserved his Oscar nomination; and "Defending Your Life," "Lost In America" and "Real Life" were terrific films), and while some jokes fall pretty flat here (as does the weak subplot of Maya and her Iranian boyfriend), this is still decent work.Yeah, I would have liked to have seen him do his stand-up in Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt or even Saudi Arabia, but I understand his reasoning (sort of). Plus, I laughed more often than not, so, as a comedy, it did its job for the most part, at least in my opinion.

Blueghost Other reviewers have got it wrong. This isn't dry intellectual humor that'll have you laughing hours later after you think about the line. This is vapid and uninspired humor that was horribly executed and horribly shot.The camera angles are uninspired, the music is canned, the acting and overall film are simply poorly directed. Lots of master shots, few if any cutaways. There is absolutely nothing here to accentuate the humor in the film. It's bland as can be.The one scene that had some humor in it was left on the cutting room floor, and the other comedic sequence cast some aspirations on international rivals.The real crux of the matter is that the film presupposes that somehow humor is not universal. It also demonstrates a kind of intellectual high-brow naiveté about the middle east. Ironically enough the film was allegedly aimed at a western audience and trying to bridge social divides, but falls miserably flat on its face through lack of zest.The other aspect is that this is, more likely, a test market film that needed to recoup its losses. It was shot with a minimal budget, and had production values to match. What was being tested here (the director? the viability of shooting a low budget film in India?) I have no idea, but it's market appeal has all the earmarks of a film that is ready to have its return and market analysis fast tracked to the studio heads and marketing department.Why on earth there would be more than 100 reviews for this film is beyond me. What's even more puzzling is why there would be praises heaped onto this thing when it was intentionally half baked.Did I mention the ending? Well, I can't, but it's not funny, just like the rest of the film.

Bolesroor I am a huge Albert Brooks fan. I find "Defending Your Life" hilarious. I think "Lost In America" is brilliant. In recent years his movies have declined in quality; "Mother" was forgettable, and "The Muse" was purely awful. "Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World," however, may be the best script he has ever written... but it is directed so terribly you may miss the greatness completely.Most people who saw "Looking" will tell you it's a terrible movie... they're not wrong. Albert Brooks, who was always a master at portraying himself as painfully awkward and even downright obnoxious, does so once again... but here it's hard to tell who's laughing at who. Is Albert the fool for failing to make his Muslim audience laugh? Are the Muslims the object of scorn for not having a broader sense of humor? Brooks' direction is so sluggish we may never know... he may never have decided. In the movie he makes ironic mention of the fact that he's known best from "Finding Nemo." Maybe more ironic is that those who only know him from "Nemo" will never make it through this movie. Maybe that's the point...Comedy rhythms vary, and Brooks has never been a fast-paced, high-energy director or performer. In "Looking," he's comatose... even the whip-crack funny lines are drowned by the languid, passive pace. Is ANYBODY behind the camera? The movie also suffers by straying back and forth between a mockumentary and a scripted Hollywood narrative. Are we laughing AT him or feeling FOR him... sometimes both, sometimes neither. A soupy, semi-romantic sub-plot feels corny and forced, the supporting players are all but invisible. Many of the jokes are subtle. Too subtle. So subtle you could objectively argue they don't exist. I cannot blame a mainstream audience for disliking this movie.That said, if you are a fan of Albert Brooks' other films and you watch this movie very carefully you will find the gold. As his aides hand out invitations to his concert to Indians on the street Albert shouts "Let's draw the line at motor-powered vehicles- no rickshaws!" The concert sequence features Brooks doing one of his classic bits from his real-life act: taking improv suggestions from the audience only to re-write them. Then there are the U.S. State Department Agents smuggling Brooks over the Pakistani border to meet with 'budding comedians.' And there's no way you can keep a straight face when reps from the Al-Jazeera network pitch the name of Mr. Brooks' new sitcom. Yes, his dressing room is a teepee. Oh, and Albert- being Albert- may inadvertently trigger some military response on his trip. I won't give away the ending.Brooks should have let someone else direct him and his brilliant script... it might have given the movie a faster tempo and a little more perspective on the story being told. It might have brought a pure, straight-faced mockumentary style to a story that needed no studio-sweetening. It might have underscored the absurdity of the premise, the brilliance of the ending, and made a more powerful statement about America, foreign culture and war. As it stands, "Looking For Comedy" wastes greatness by challenging viewers to watch what should have been a pleasure.GRADE: C

MartinHafer I really enjoyed this film but unfortunately, I don't think most people would. The comedy of Albert Brooks is often very dry and subtle and this film is the "Lawrence of Arabia" of all dry films! The laughs are definitely there, but it takes a special sort of person to appreciate it. If you have enjoyed Brooks' films such as LOST IN America and REAL LIFE, then you should appreciate the film--that style humor is definitely present. If you are looking for the Brooks of such films as FINDING NEMO, MOTHER and DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, then you may be very confused or disappointed by the film. That's because, at times, the humor is very painful and subtle--there just aren't belly-laughs in this film.The story begins with the US government asking Brooks to take on the job of going to India and Pakistan to try to discover what makes the Muslims laugh. The thinking is that through this, we can understand their culture better. The problem is that Brooks has no idea how to do this and the government goes about this in a real half-hearted manner. So Brooks, with no understanding of the culture, just blunders in and has no idea what to do. The problem is that the American agents assigned to him are idiots and his Indian assistant, played by Sheetal Sheth, is too nice--telling Brooks that the Indians love him and that he is funny when he truly isn't.Now this brings me to a part of the film that will likely lose a lot of viewers. I understood that Brooks intended this segment to be completely unfunny and the jokes were truly awful as was his delivery, but the part of the movie when he does a comedy show for Indians is hard to watch. Again and again, he tells unfunny jokes or jokes that are impossible to translate to this culture and every attempt bombs. This is done in a very, very long and tedious part of the film. It's supposed to be tedious, but many in the audience will probably hate this. The problem is that Brooks ISN'T a great stand-up comedian--this isn't his forte. Instead, his dry and subtle humor is and his choosing to do such a painful and long comedy routine is definitely tough going for the audience. I appreciated it, but it was also a good place to go to the bathroom or get some popcorn.Aside from that, I found the film thoroughly enjoyable. His "fish out of water" concept worked well and much of this was due to three factors. First, his deadpan delivery and style was easy to like. Second, his assistant (Sheetal Sheth) was terrific. Beautiful, adorable and sweet--she was a great "straight man" to Brooks and truly lit up the film. Sadly, on IMDb they forgot to credit her--though she should have gotten second billing! Third, the way the film ended was wonderful--and couldn't have been better. It ended on a very, very high and cynical note--especially for audience members who are aware of the political situation between India and Pakistan.Overall, I really liked the movie. If it hadn't been for an overly long stand-up segment, I would have given it an 8. I understood Brooks' idea for doing it, but I really think it went on way too long and was way over-the-top. Still, a nice film for anyone wanting a different and cerebral comedy--and don't mind that there are very few "big laughs".NOTE--After initially writing this review, I looked over the other reviews and found TONS of negative reviews. This didn't surprise me--as I said, the style humor is definitely NOT for most viewers. However, a few of the comments were very unfair. First, one knucklehead said "this is typical of ALL American films". This is insulting and uneducated to say, as Brooks' films (in particular, this one) are completely unlike other American comedies. This is like saying "The Teletubbies" is like ALL British television! Sure, it's British, but certainly not typical. Second, some said it was offensive and made fun of Indians or Muslims. I disagree and think this shows some rather "thin skin". In the movie, Brooks was actually the object of almost all the humor. The film did NOT say that Indians or Muslims were humorless--more that Brooks totally misjudged them and was an idiot for how he assumed people around the world all laughed at the same themes in humor (such as his terrible ventriloquism that NO ONE from ANY country would have liked). Sadly, such misguided criticism of the film DOES make many Westerners think (incorrectly) that Muslims or Indians have no sense of humor! The film is gentle in its attitude and self-deprecating. Sure, I can understand and appreciate people not liking the film, but stop reading intent or your own prejudices into the film that just weren't there.