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Expected more

A Major Disappointment

The acting in this movie is really good.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Just as greed became good in the Reagan 80s in America it was also a virtue in Thatcher Great Britain of the same era. A lot of people, all kinds of people came to the United Kingdom to make their fame and fortune. Among them the Hussein family from Pakistan who get into a lot of businesses, some of them illegal.In this day and age of terrorism and fear of imposed Sharia law this family would be quite an eye opener. For one thing the wine flows freely, something religious Moslem families just don't indulge in. They're about the same as any Christian families in Great Britain, their share of black sheep as well. No one is looking to be a terrorist, they're too busy making money. Robert Walpole would have been proud.But outsiders there are and a lot of native British don't like these immigrants. The same as on this side of the pond, the new arrivals usually have it rough getting their place at the table.Gay though is still something they're not quite ready for and young Omar played by Gordon Warnecke isn't ready for coming out. He's got some money from a cousin to open a laundromat in their neighborhood. And he gets one of the neighborhood kids played by a young Daniel Day-Lewis to run it.Day-Lewis isn't exactly ready for coming out among his peers, a gang of punks whose descendants were leading the cheers for Brexit. Still things at business and in their personal lives it's a rough go, but they manage.My Beautiful Laundrette is quite the commentary on the Thatcher era in the United Kingdom as well as a nice gay love story. You'll enjoy it best seeing it on both levels.

An ambitious Asian Briton and his white lover strive for success and hope, when they open up a glamorous laundromat."My Beautiful Laundrette" was Stephen Frears' third feature film for the cinema. Originally shot for television, it was first released in cinemas and eventually became his first international success. Today, of course, he is one of the most successful directors in the world. And the story is an excellent snapshot of race, sexual orientation, class and politics in 1980s England.Most interesting, perhaps, is that this film and "Room With a View" apparently came out on the same day and therefore launched Daniel Day-Lewis to the world stage. He could have been stuck being an obscure actor, but by this impeccable timing, he was immediately recognized as the great that he was / is.

Stephen Frears is one of those directors with an amazing body of work, although most people wouldn't be able to tell you anything he ever directed. With films like 'The Grifters', and 'Dangerous Liasons', you can already tell he knows what he's doing behind the camera. He is more known for the iconic John Cusack film 'High Fidelity', the recent award winning film 'Philomena', or even 'Dirty Pretty Things'. Needless to say, this is a quite the impressive list of films, all having very different qualities and tones.But one thing remains constant here, which is Frear's uncanny ability to film his characters so well, that they stay in our lives forever. Well, that and tell an amazing story, no matter how big or small it is. One of Frear's first films was called 'My Beautiful Laundrette', which came out 30 years ago, and was originally made for television, but later converted to a feature film. Currently, the movie has a rare 100% rating still on Rotten Tomatoes and was even nominated for a sole Oscar for Best Screenplay, but lost out to Woody Allen at the time.In addition to this success, this film marked one of the first films for the multi Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis, and no, he didn't win an Oscar here. 'My Beautiful Laundrette' centers around a young Pakistani man named Omar (Gordon Warnecke), living in south London during the height of Margaret Thatcher's reign of England. Omar's father wants him to go to university to get a good education and a great job, rather than working dead end jobs, however Omar takes a shining to his uncle Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), who runs a few businesses, but isn't the best person to look up to, due to his infidelity. Uncle Nasser offers Omar to run a local laundry mat he owns and restore it to make a decent profit.As Omar is working at the laundry mat, he comes across an old friend he hasn't seen in years named Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis), a local skinhead now and part of a gang. The two instantly reconnect and hit it off and form a passionate relationship. Omar even has Johnny help with fixing up and running the laundry mat, much to the disrespect of Johnny's fellow gang members and Nasser's business associate, who happens to be a drug runner. It's a simple story really, but it's also a very honest and convincing portrayal of two friends and lovers in a time, where it wasn't really permitted, due to the social and political views of government and the people.This story that tackles homosexuality, racism, and opposing political views is actually told through a light-hearted voice. Even though there is a bit of violence in the movie, it is often comical and heart warming, due to the phenomenal relationship between Johnny and Omar. I also believe that Frears wanted to showcase not only what race, religion, and sexual preference did to one another in the form of treating others with respect or lack thereof, but also the financial situations of people of this time, that allowed them to discriminate against their fellow neighbors.It's an amazing, yet simple story, one that would be hard to replicate in today's world. Daniel Day-Lewis is of course excellent in his role, and his relationship with Warnecke is completely believable. It's a shame those two weren't nominated for acting awards. 'My Beautiful Laundrette' is one film you won't soon forget.

I have to say Daniel Day-Lewis did a great job playing a punk. Although he didn't seem to have a very good fashion sense, I thought the jacket he had on was too bright. Anyways at least that was only one hiccup out of him!This film tells you a lot of British Indian immigrants and the racism involving it. It can be quite scary to have someone wanting to harm you because of the way you were born to be. Also, I found it scary that Omar's cousin hurt him like he was his flesh and blood. How could you do that to someone especially part of your family members?! I tell ya, he always freaked me out whenever he appeared in the movie! Thankfully, he apologised and never did anything horrible to Omar again!I thought everyone involved in this film did a pretty grand job, hats off to you all!