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Sadly Over-hyped

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This cute little soap opera of a flick was at best a sweet harmless story of two girls living their orthodox lives in the 21st Century. The plot line carries you along through the story tricking the viewer into thinking something big will happen at the end. It's like a joke firecracker that's all fuse and no bang. At the end of the movie the fuse just flitz out and you are left with nothing.The two girls - one orthodox Jewish the other orthodox Muslim - are portrayed as intelligent well educated young women who are teachers in a private school. They become friends through circumstance at the school. Principal Jacoby tells them in her office meeting with them that she can see their future and hints that she is willing to give them a chance to create their own lives. Otherwise their life will be decided for them by their outdated religious culture and what's the use of all their education if they are willing to be locked away by tradition. Here is the balance of the story!The Jewish girl seems to take this to heart but soon discovers she is in no way prepared for the world beyond her front door. The Muslim girl has already decided the outside world is not for her. They both stay within the safe boundaries of their religion and reject the concept of individuality as offered to them by Principal Jacoby.A real disappointment of a story because the ending makes the whole movie pointless. And I feel the directors Diane Crespo and Stefan C. Schaefer are just saying that religious fundamentalism is 'the way'.

The writing for "Arranged" is terribly leading and belittling. Directed and written by Stefan Schaefer, the narrative goes through fabricated and forced discussions wiht caricaturish type relationships of Muslim and Jewish female characters. The acting ranges from decent to poor - especially the phony accents. Traditional stereotypical ideas are blasted in excess. In one preposterous scene, you have the lead Jewish character's mother chastising her daughter in front of her Muslim friend for bringing her over. While this might be possible it is fairly implausible. There are plenty of similar scenes where characters are puppets of the writers devoid of realism. The main characters are old enough to not be so dependent emotionally on their respective parents, so it didn't make sense. Not recommended but you could do worse. 5/10

This is a most wonderful film. The acting is first rate, the direction is well paced and the New York backdrop is a joy to see.The story may appear contrived to some, but to me it was believable. Coming from a strong ethnic background (although not as strong as Jewish Orthodoxy or Observant Muslim), I understood the conflicts "typical" American culture and values place on those that are a little different. While we in America (especially the media) are tolerant of, accommodate and even promote, gays, lesbians, PETA, and most other non-mainstream groups, we don't tend to tolerate religious conservatives. This movie shows that such people are real people. Of course they are lucky to live in America where they can freely practice their beliefs.The movie works on many planes. The father-daughter relationships are charming. The relationship between the young women and their principal, and with their siblings is also well done. The happy "Jane Austin" ending may not be totally realistic, but it makes most of us feel good inside.It is both serious and funny. The plethora of ill-suited suitors is very funny; reminds me of the suitors the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding invites to dinner.The lifestyle of Leah and the women's fellow teachers is a real picture of today's young people. They drink, smoke dope and "hook-up" without a second thought that there may be something wrong with such a life style.The movie is also about choices. This is made obviously clear when Rachel "tells off" her principal.I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I laughed when it was funny and teared up when it was heart-warming, and came away looking forward to see it again. I highly recommend it.

The blind dates aren't going well for Rochel(Zoe Lister Jones). She considers losing her religion, which means, losing her family. But first, a trial run, one night without the trappings of being Orthodox Jewish, before she makes up her mind. Rochel goes to a house party with her cousin. There's drinking and smoking and gentile boys, but Rochel doesn't drink, or smoke, or seem interested in the boy who insists that she dance with him. The night is a bust. At this point, "Arranged", unintended or not, makes us wonder if Rochel likes boys at all. Maybe the Orthodox Jewish girl is in love with the Orthodox Muslim girl. Nasira(Francis Benhamou) hasn't found the right man either. Neither girl makes a move. Straight and picky, both Rochel and Nasira are unlike the women depicted in past films who did their growing up within a patriarchal(arguably, archaic) construct, by which the girls walk into arranged marriages like lambs to the slaughter. In "Arranged", the two orthodox girls, straight and picky, have some flexibility during husband season, so they exercise it. Although there's never the slightest inclination towards romantic love, it makes you wonder, if each girl's respective religion would prevent a declaration of attraction, had there been one from either heart. When the Muslim girl invites the Jewish girl to her home, and she tattoos the Jewish girl's hand in her room, "Arranged" could have really challenged the orthodoxy shared by both religions that a woman needs a good man. But this square film, is square just like its two female leads who befriend each other, and that's okay, that's more than enough, because "Arranged" has a low-key charm that builds bridges across the religious divide without being cloying about it. But, oooh. It would've been awesome if they kissed.