Wow! Such a good movie.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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

There are two love stories here, and also a view of the Melbourne's Muslim community from the inside looking out. The first and most obvious love is that of Ali (Osamah Sami) for his neighbour and fellow Muslim, Diane (played beautifully by Helena Sawires). One of the problems for Ali is that Diane is apparently the wrong kind of Muslim - of Lebanese decent and Australian born while Ali's family are more recent refugees from Iraq. Another difficulty is that she has flown through the entry exams to study medicine at the local university while Ali has only pretended to pass to try and live up to his family's expectations. Just to make the path of true love yet more bumpy, Ali also walks - more or less by accident - into an arranged engagement with a girl he doesn't know at all. (And this whole story is apparently true.) The second, and more nuanced love is Ali's deep affection for his father - a cleric who struggles constantly to bring a human, humoured and caring interpretation to his religion. And it is living with an all encompassing religion in a secular country that it the source of much of the film's humour - and its challenge. For non Muslims, this doesn't always work - we (or at least I) just don't know enough about the culture and customs involved. And we aren't familiar with a rule system this strict.It is an education, though, and a touching story. 7/10.

I really enjoyed All's Wedding. It's funny, poignant and although it's about Arab and Muslim culture, it really transcends culture to illuminate truths about us all. I especially like that it pokes gentle fun at Arab culture but simultaneously pokes gentle fun at the stereotypes so many of us carry about immigrants, and especially Middle Eastern immigrants. This movie, aside from easily standing on its own two feet as entertainment, is timely and makes a contribution to our multicultural society, through understanding. Kudos to all involved.

There is a narrow space between intelligent racial satire and mocking humour. Of course, you never get just one or the other in the same film: it's always a mix, but the balance is critical and contentious. The Big Sick (2017) is an example of a film that nails the balance with clever dialogue that is genuinely funny and culturally insightful. An example of a film where the balance is less assured is the Australian-made Ali's Wedding (2017).Filmed in multicultural Melbourne, it is a story based on real people, real events, and loads of racial stereotypes. Many of its gag-lines depend on audiences noticing the difference between Lebanese, Egyptian, Iraqi and Iranian Muslims. The son of a popular Iraqi Muslim cleric, Ali (Osama Sami) carries the high expectations of his family who want only that he becomes a doctor and marries a Muslim girl of their choice. Ali is a mediocre student and fakes his medical entrance results to make his family and the community proud of him. He falls for a Lebanese girl called Dianne (Helana Sawires) but dares not tell his family as she is the 'wrong type' of Muslim. Meanwhile he is duped into an arranged engagement to the 'right type' of girl. He sneaks into medical classes to be near Dianne but the intricate web of lies that he has built begins to unravel and his life is a mess. The highlight of this film is the comedic tension caused by Ali's lies. We know that the web must collapse, but we just don't know how or when. There are gags aplenty aimed both at Muslims and at those who laugh at Muslims. The cinematography has a low key, low budget feel that works well with this kind of situational comedy. There are enough sub-plots to give the 'big lie' texture, with a script designed for those who like to laugh at others expense. Osama Sami plays Ali with monotone authenticity while the shining starlight in this film is Helana Sawires. She brightens the screen with intelligent insights into what it's like to be a smart repressed Muslim girl and she easily steals every scene in which she appears.Cross-cultural gags can be funny but when the cinematic lens is widened one asks what are we really laughing at? Comedy is situational, character or script driven, and the situation that Ali has constructed has loads of comedic potential. But the script and characters struggle. For example, the satirical value in staging 'Saddam The Musical' is sabotaged by its amateurish presentation and seriously unfunny theatrics. The cultural differences between various Muslim ethnic groups are trivialised, like in Ali's tea drinking ritual, and the exaggerated responses to the Iman's words of teaching are mocking rather than respectful. In a global climate of Muslim-phobia, the gags in this film at times feel uncomfortably like laughing at people who are different.It is unlucky timing that Ali's Wedding is released so close to The Big Sick as comparisons are inevitable and for some, they will be unkind. Ali's Wedding will be seen by many as a well- intentioned light-hearted rom com, and so it is. But it treads in the same space as many other Aussie inter-racial films and it could have done more with the opportunity.

Ali's Wedding is a film of many gifts. It's funny, heartfelt, and not quite what you'd expect from Aussie cinema. It's an Islamic focused film that is an honest look at the pocket of communities in Melbourne. And on top of that, this is all a true story, focusing on Osama Sami's struggle at Melbourne University going through an identity crisis.For such a specific cultural play-set of story, Ali's Wedding shows the good and welcoming side of the Islamic religion while mocking aspects of family life, Muslim or not. Family's a tricky thing to portray in these comedies without being overtly stereotypical or offensive given a somewhat alien culture within Western society. There's grounded Islam and funny Islam in this; it's an open-minded film that utilizes its heritage to explore terrain unseen in Aussie cinema. It's a cultural milestone and could prove to be an international cult classic in the 21st Century.I highly recommend this film. Even if you're an Aussie who's not into Aussie-cinema, give this one a shot because it is a film with international appeal and entertainment. 9/10.