Four Lions: Did You Hear The One About the Suicide Bombers?

Charlie Chaplin skewered Hitler. Woody Allen lampooned Fidel Castro. Now, a Brit satirizes suicide bombers.

Comedy has always been about pushing boundaries. Political comedy has always been about exposing the absurdities of both world leaders and international enemies, as well as poking fun at our attitudes toward hot-button issues.

Last year’s comedy Four Lions, recently made available to rent or stream, manages to poke fun at suicide bombers by both exposing and humanizing their idiocy.

Four Lions is about a group of British jihadists who plot to bomb something in Sheffield, but can’t agree on what (a mosque? the internet?). They not only lack sophistication, but also intelligence. One mistakes chickens for deformed rabbits. Another is coerced into hitting himself in the face to prove his own point. While a third disguises himself in a market as a woman by putting his hands over his thick beard. These are not brilliant masterminds. But they believe in something and are committed to bumbling their way toward achieving their goal. It just so happens that their goal is martyrdom.

Chris Morris makes his directorial debut with a biting farce that is potent in its mix of absurd dialogue and sight gags and character development. This is no slapstick comedy with one-dimensional characters.

The strength of Four Lions is that it takes characters, whose goal typically makes us think one-dimensionally, and turns them into likable idiots, each with his own personality, family, and friends. It also takes death seriously; the fact that these explosives could go off if not handled carefully is of frequent concern. By the end of the film, I realized I wanted these characters to fail, be foiled, or to turn around and go home. I won’t tell you what each character decides to do, but I will say their plans inevitably fall apart.

These days words like ‘suicide bombers’ or ‘jihadists’ are buzz words that are likely to turn one away from a film, much like ‘anti-Semitism’ with Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. Morris has successfully created a comedy that is topical while not targeting any one group; it is apolitical in this sense. It’s a film that has been compared to a range of films stretching from Dr. Strangelove to The Full Monty. Like all good comedies, you’ll want to list off all the best bits after seeing Four Lions – and you may even tell your friends about it. Whatever your response, you’ll be glad you got past its touchy synopsis and gave it a chance.


8/10

Should you see it? Rent (or stream)


Four Lions is available on DVD, Blu-ray, or Netflix Watch Instantly.