A favorable look at Albert Brooks' Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. It opens January 20:
Brooks said the film was originally supposed to be distributed by Sony, with an October 2005 release date (the current distributor is Warner Independent Pictures). But Sony was uncomfortable about pairing the words “comedy” and “Muslim” in the title . . .
According to Brooks, Sony simply wanted the title to be “Looking for Comedy.” . . .
“My answer is, 'Why even make the movie?' I mean, the whole point is to break this down a little bit. I said, 'If you can't put 'comedy' and 'Muslim' in the same sentence, is the world that bad? Are we really that scared? Because then let's just all wait in our house 'til the bomb drops. There's no point in doing anything.'”
Brooks isn't afraid to poke fun at both American and Arab organizations, such as TV network Al Jazeera. In one scene, executives from Al Jazeera try to recruit Brooks for a new sitcom titled “That Darn Jew.”
“Mark my words,” Brooks told me, “Two years from now they will have an entertainment network.”
So has he received feedback about the film from Al Jazeera execs?
"We had our world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival, and they had people there,” said Brooks, “and that was one of the best screenings I've ever had for any movie. And I'm still here talking to you."
