5/5 A wonderful blast from the past
  by ex-priest (the center of the USA)
I haven't seen this movie in close to 20 years, but remembered it fondly from when it first came out. As I rewatched it, it brought those days back. A beautiful film, about love between to very different guys. I can watch it over and over.

4/5 My Beautiful Laundrette
  by Joshua Miller (Coeur d'Alene,ID)
My Beautiful Laundrette is directed by Stephen Frears, the director behind one of my favorite films (Dangerous Liaisons) and several other good ones (High Fidelity, Mary Reilly, and The Queen to name a few). The film features an Oscar-nominated script by Hanif Kureishi and an early, stand-out performance by two-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor, My Left Foot & There Will Be Blood).

The setting is a racially-tense neighborhood in Thatcher-ear London. Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is a young Pakistani who starts working for his uncle washing cars. Omar is soon allowed to run his uncle's shabby, run-down laundrette. It's around this time that Omar encounters childhood friend Johnny (Day-Lewis), a hood who runs with a small group of fascists who enjoy provoking racial violence. Omar hires Johnny to help up him fix up the laundrette with drug money he has stolen from his uncle's associate Salim.

It is soon revealed that Omar and Johnny are gay...And Salim discovers where his drugs went and Omar opens more laundrettes. None of these things will surprise you. They weren't meant to admittedly, but what this entire film seems to be is a rather complicated story told as a standard in a 94-minute timeframe.

The film's script follows a very linear plot. This, juxtaposed with the unnecessary changes in tone, makes the screenplay the weakest element of the film. It's a film that wants to explore themes of social and ethnic classes, as well as sexuality, but it never really says much on the subject. As if Kureishi knew these were important issues but didn't know why. It doesn't work as an exploration of these subjects and it's a rather complex story that had been formatted into a much more simplistic one. It made me question what exactly the screenwriter's intention was.

Beyond that, it's not particularly well-made. It has very dated near-grainy cinematography and some synthesizer music used as the score, which seems inappropriate in some of the scenes. Many films directed by Frears seem very dated due largely in part to his use of cinematography. "Mary Reilly" looks and feels much older than 1996 (this has nothing to do with its timeframe) and "The Queen" looks to glossy and done-up (another Miramax film called "Casanova" suffered the same problem).

If anything, I can see My Beautiful Laundrette causing a stir in 1985 when it was released especially with its depiction of Omar and Johnny's homosexual relationship. This brings me to my next subject...

This is not a gay-themed movie such as Brokeback Mountain. While "Brokeback" has a central theme of homosexuality and its very plot relies on it, My Beautiful Laundrette does not. It is not about two homosexual men but rather, two men who happen to be homosexual. If all the scenes of Omar and Johnny being intimate were removed from the film, it would have little or no effect on the overall story.

The best, most consistent thing about the film is the subtle, moving performance of Daniel Day-Lewis. This is not Bill the Butcher or Daniel Plainview; this is Day-Lewis in neutral. It's a performance that shows off his range as an actor and his ability to completely immerse himself in a role, big or small. He's one of the few well-known actors who walk on-screen and allow you to instantly identify the character rather than the actor. I can imagine Day-Lewis viewing that as a compliment of the highest order.

My Beautiful Laundrette is not a powerful, profound, or particularly moving film. It is neither a failure nor any real kind of achievement. It does not require an audience nor is it undeserving of one. It's simply there. Neither good nor bad, neither entertaining nor boring, but available...Should you decide to watch it.

B-

Side-Note: Hanif Kureishi did write the screenplay for one of my favorite movies of the last few years, "Venus" with Peter O'Toole. This is a film that wanted to explore a particular subject (in this case, death, among other things) and succeeded.

5/5 heartwarming
  by R. Swanson (New Mexico)
The film covers a short period of time in the life of Omar, a young Pakistani living in London in the 80's. His father is a brilliant, well educated socialist who was famous back home but is a nobody there, so he has taken to his bed with a bottle of vodka. His hope is in Omar, and he expects him to go to college to understand the evils of society. Meanwhile, though they need cash and he calls on his successful brother, Nassar to give Omar a summer job in one of his many businesses.

We watch Omar as he gains favor with Nassar and gets to manage one of his run down laundrettes in a poor area of the city. He wants to follow in his uncle's footsteps and make a lot of money. The plot thickens as he runs into an old childhood friend, Johnny, a lower class native Brit who has turned into a petty criminal and hangs out with a group of racist skinhead types. We follow Omar as he deals with the various personalities in the extended family, including a female cousin who has her eye on him.

Omar persuades Johnny to help him turn the laundrette into something spectacular and the project gives the film its center. We see squalor turned into beauty as the two boys realize their dream and meanwhile we see them fall in love with each other. It's not a simple success story, though, and they have to contend with enemies in both groups--the Pakistani family and the skinheads.

There is so much richness in this small, unpretentious, made for TV film...themes of class distinction, political views, sexuality, roles of women as well as race. The film just tells the story without preaching at us. I found myself rooting for each of them, at one time or another, with the exception of the totally vile Salim. The acting is terrific and Daniel Day Lewis will grab your heart. And even though there is plenty to worry us as the plot unfolds, I found myself feeling good at the end. A very human film.

4/5 Ramble about life
  by -Ashi- (San Jose, CA United States)
I suppose people either love this film or hate it....

The basic plot was a guy trying to do something in his life in a somewhat confusing world, were everything was not to his advantage. Omar, a son of Pakistani immigrant, who up until the start of the movie, didn't have any direction in life. We don't know about his history, but it'll unfold later in the movie. We learned he is gay, and was a troublemaker when he was younger.

Anyways..., I suppose some people don't like how this movie rambles. I for one, hate it when I sense the author of a book (or in this case, filmmaker) can't seem to make up his/her mind. I don't think in this movie the direction is lost (it actually works for some odd reason). The movie is sort of a snapshot of life going through a phase. This is realism. I suppose it won't satisfy people who like a grand plot that's meticulously devised.

Also keep in mind the movie was from the 80's when most movies' plots were thin like paper. There are some dialogues that don't connect too well. In general though, it's pretty good if you put the era into perspective.

Memorable characters.... This is a very difficult thing to do in a movie or a book. I like how real the characters seem to be. Not fake, not exaggerated malevolent or divinely benign. They have their own self interests. There is few political agenda in characters' dialogue (e.g., let's beautify gay people, or let's do an anti-discrimination theme). No, they are just real people. They don't speak words directly to the audience and feed us ideas. They earn out affection by being themselves, not "I am gay and Pakistani, so you owe me something." If you want melodrama, look elsewhere. (And people say I am melodramatic... ;-))

I love the ending; very cute and affectionate. Leave an imprint on me without shock value or sensual eroticism. You'd think after Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) got beaten up, you'd hear some grunt about life and injustice in general. No..., we are rewarded with a scene where Omar tried to clean Johnny's wound and they ended up not "I'm sorry, but let's have sex" but two guys, very innocently splash water at each other. That's VERY original (though I sensed Day-Lewis was about to take his pants off...). I challenge you to write a scene like that.

Life moves on, you know. I am happy the movie doesn't give a self-pity, wound-licking ending. (I apologize for being so unprofessional in this review. LOL!)

5/5 good flick
  by Joe Black (USA)
The acting is great and Daniel Day was great; Omar is awesome. The movie is very sensual. The story is well told and interesting.