Watch Leila For Free

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is a touching love story starring a sterile Iranian woman, who has to deal with her in-laws' continuous desire for a grandchild. It is by no means Hollywood-friendly: the story unfolds as it would in real life. It is a perfect example of art imitating life.The cast is very proficient. Leila does an amazing job of conveying her deep yet veiled anxiety, annoyance and anger every time she speaks to her mother in-law. Sheikhi is equally proficient at making us scorn her. I did feel that Ali Mosaffa stole the show: he is flawless in his role of trying to keep the different protagonists happy, yet staying blind to their actual feelings.This movie may lose a lot of its punch for non-farsi speakers.Leila Hatami (Leila, the Wife) - 7/10 - Great when acting, not as great at narrating.Ali Mosaffa (Reza, the Husband) - 10/10 - Compelling flawless performance.Jamileh Sheikhi (Reza's Mother) - 8/10 - Successfully makes us shriek every time she speaks.Dariush Mehrjui - 8/10 - Very good script and good rhythm, though I felt that the movie was unusually dark. I am not sure if this was intended, poor cinematography or my failing TV set.

I saw this in my History of the Middle East class and I was blown away with how well made this movie was. Sure, the sound and the visuals aren't ground breaking, but it gets the job done. While this is a darker movie (like many Middle Eastern movies are), there are occasional funny parts stuck in there (epecially with Leila's uncle). Some of the subtitles are funny too, not on purpose, but they flutter around and sometimes spell a simple word wrong, but that's not the point. I own this DVD, and it's certainly worth renting and watching. It's a chick flick with out all the sappy stuff.

"Leila" is so awful it's painful to watch. The DVD I rented had all the zits and dust of the original film. The video was contrasty and grainy as if the film was "pushed" for speed as most indoor scenes were poorly lighted like a really bad noir. The color was off, the English subtitles were poor translations and blurry, the sound was awful and the voices on the "other end" of the phone conversations sounded like they were standing next to the person on screen, etc. The story was simple and didn't have to be any more than 1.3 hours but the film ran for a boring almost two hours owing to dawdling and filler. The plot was a no brainer which is blown way beyond any common sense with characters who are so stupid they do things like have a "fast of speech" which seemed like a euphemism for "not talking because I'm upset" which, of course, would create relationship problems and does which is why it's factored into this stupid film. Etc. Etc. I could go on. Long story short, don't waste you time on this awful film. If you're into Iranian, there are many better flicks out there from Iran. (D)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** i found the climax at the end when the husband reza brings over his 2nd wife to leila's house the night of the wedding to be utterly implausible. although i am not iranian nor did i grow up in iran, i did spend some time in the arab world, and it seems to me that the more likely and plausible outcome to this tale would have been for reza to take his 2nd wife to a 2nd house the night of the wedding than to bring her home to leila's house.leila should never have had to clean up her master bedroom and move to the guest bedroom. similarly, leila should never have had to run away from the house to her mother's house.the cruel actions of reza at the end are also entirely implausible given the sensitivity he is portrayed with in the movie, and i felt the director was just trying to instigate a forceful yet unrealistic climax at the end, perhaps to make a statement. a better (yet understated) end to this story would have been to have the 2nd wife come home to a different house the night of the wedding.finally, kudos to leila hatami for a stellar performance!