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Starring: Alaa Walieddin, Dina, Hassan Hosny, Mohamed Azab
Directed by: Sherif Arafa
Click here for photos from the star-studded premier.
The cairolive.com rating: 5 (out of 10)
 Alaa Walieddin has just served up his annual summer offering. And just like everybody else, you'll watch it, laugh a little bit, and remember nothing about it in the morning.
In last year's summer blockbuster Al-Nazer (The Principal), the big guy was accompanied by a supporting cast and script that gave his antics a multi-dimensional flavor. This time, in Ibn Ezz (Rich Boy), he's all alone. Nobody is allowed to share the spotlight with Alaa, and that's the film's downfall. It's not that the rest of the cast is bad -- on the contrary, they're all successful character actors -- it's just that the script does not allow them to expand their roles.
Alaa plays a young man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and the film starts out with a promising premise, narrated by Hassan Hosny, who is rapidly becoming the godfather of shababi Egyptian film. Honsy narrates the story of Ibn Ezz's birth and childhood, urging the audience to look beyond the typical stereotypes of the rich. They have problems too, he says, and he should know: Hosny has been the family butler for years.
The fact that Ibn Ezz's father does not care a bit about him is the crux of the film, for, one day, "poppy" runs away with the family's money, much of which was borrowed from the banks. Alaa is arrested and -- after a daring escape from the prison truck with the help of Hosny and Alaa's dog driving a car -- is forced to live on the streets for a while. You know, to see how the other half lives.
That's how he meets belly dancer Dina, whose brother, played by comedian Mohamed Azab of Azab show, brings him home. Their mother is a blind, former belly dancer played by In'am Salousa. All three provide convincing, entertaining portrayals, but the script, mostly composed of a string of well-constructed joke sequences, does not allow anyone's acting talents to actually show.
The film's memorable points include its special effects, never before seen in Egyptian cinema. The scene where a train runs over Alaa is especially effective. There are also some pretty good sight gags, including dogs driving cars and using mobile phones. The journalist character who is following Alaa's story is funny -- not because of the actor playing the part, but more because of the sheer number of newspapers and magazines that he purports to work for. When there's a fire, he's covering it for Fire magazine. When the story involves a dog, it's for Dog World. Etc. It's a healthy jab, certainly, at the number of specialized magazines and newspapers that have sprung up in Egypt in recent years, and a symbolic way of showing how strained some of the concepts behind them really are.
The film also features an unsuccessful attempt to copy Al-Nazer's surreal wedding scene (featuring Mohamed Saad's unforgettable Limby character), and a more successful spoof of Hisham Abbass's Indian-inspired Naree Narayn song and video. In fact, that sequence, which takes place at Cairo's Indian cultural center, was the real high point of the whole film.
As in Al-Nazer, there's certainly a lesson to be learned here somewhere, since the story-line is somewhat of a metaphoric attempt to retell modern Egyptian history, albeit in an extremely superficial way. So what is today's lesson? That the poor have a lot to teach the rich about how to really live? Maybe.
More likely, though, it's about lowering your expectations. After all, Ibn Ezz is really just a couple of hours of laughs, nothing more, nothing less.
Click here for photos from the star-studded premier.
Showing at:
Al-Salam, Serag, Tahrir, Odeon, Normandy, Ramsis Hilton, Cairo, Cosmos, Diana
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