Saturday, October 26, 2013

Just Like a Woman - Movie Review

Take an Egyptian woman married to a traditional Egyptian man with a domineering mother. Put them in the USA where they run a store. Make the couple not have a child and the mother be on the case of the daughter-in-law all the time. Add a free spirited American woman who is married to a philandering, lazy husband, who is also interested in belly dancing. Make them meet at the store.

Ignite the situation with the death of the mother-in-law due to an accidental overdose administered by the Egyptian girl. And make the American woman lose her job and find her husband cheating on her. Get the two woman together, give them a car, an endless terrain in the USA and belly dancing opportunities at night clubs. The girls do what they can do well, belly dance, get by, face some problems and kind of grow to a stage when they are both fond of one another and strong enough to stand independently. The Egyptian girl goes back to a possible jail term but now she is not scared anymore, the American cuts off ties with her boyfriend and starts afresh.

It is about new beginnings finally, the subtle abuse that women across the world suffer. But it has hope and shows that one can get by. There will be some glitches but you can handle them. And most importantly feel the taste of freedom, the wind in your hair. Go fly woman. Sienna Miller and Golshifteh Farahani, the Iranian actress, give convincing performances and the movie somehow holds together possibly because it is an honest effort.

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