No. 32. (2020) ALI'S WEDDING. June 10th.

Film No. 32 (2020)  June 10th.  8:10 PM.  SBS On DEMAND, Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"My dad has a saying. A lie begins in the sole and then travels the world". (Ali's introductory voice-over describes one of his father's many philosophical reflections on life).

Ali's Wedding takes us on a pleasant, if somewhat, predictable ride, highlighting the pressures life can bring for a young man living as an Iraqi, in Australian society. Those pressures come in the form of career expectations and a marriage of the arranged kind. So how is this a comedy? In the same way as house eviction via compulsory governmental acquisition is in one of Australia's funniest feature films, The Castle. 

Osamah Sami wrote this script along with Andrew Knight (Hacksaw Ridge, The Water Diviner). After all it's Sami's personal recollections. He also plays the lead, Ali, very competently it must be said. This could easily have been a recipe for disaster, but Ali's Wedding is a delight. It's about family, friends, falling in love and lying to save face.  

His book Good Muslim Boy has won literary awards, it's also a stage play and forms the foundation for his now very successful career as a writer, comedian and performer. Sami's story reflects a man comfortable in his own skin considering the pressures on show.  Ali's Wedding is an easy watch, without the bite of Muriel's Wedding but all the charm of The Castle. 9GUMS.