Arranged (2007)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

That was an excellent one.

Better Late Then Never

Admirable film.

Rochel, an Orthodox Jew, and Nasira, a devout Muslim, are two teachers at a Brooklyn elementary school who become close friends. Both are facing attempts by their respective families to arrange their marriages according to each individual's respective religious customs. The situation is made more complex by virtue of the fact that both women are strong willed individuals, and, along with the arranged marriage issue, also face together the conflict of social prejudices from people within each of their ethnic backgrounds in conjunction with their close friendship and association. Rochel is the more rebellious of the two, chafing at the bit when her parents engage her in the Orthodox Jewish ritual of matchmaking while Nasira is a bit more accepting of her religion's marriage customs. The film subsequently develops into an amazing and charming dissection of their experiences both as friends and as members of two quite different cultural and religious backgrounds. The actresses who play Rochel and Nasira are outstanding and give the film the necessary impetus to fully engage the viewer and achieve acceptance of what eventually leads into a happy ending for both women.

This comedy/drama/romance is neither funny, dramatic, nor romantic.The acting is wooden and amateurish, the cinematography is no better than a home movie, the editing is embarrassing, and the directing is appalling. Did I mention how awful the acting is? It's bad, really bad. It's impossible to feel any affinity for any of the characters and so difficult to care what happens in the film or to the individuals.The script is constructed entirely of clichéd language and set pieces that make the whole movie feel disjointed and clunky. It alludes to providing insight into the age-old relationship between Jews and Muslims but doesn't expose or inform in any way.Above all of this, the major failure is the soundtrack which is so irritating that, if you watch this film at all, you should turn the sound off and watch with subtitles.

This cute little soap opera of a flick was at best a sweet harmless story of two girls living their orthodox lives in the 21st Century. The plot line carries you along through the story tricking the viewer into thinking something big will happen at the end. It's like a joke firecracker that's all fuse and no bang. At the end of the movie the fuse just flitz out and you are left with nothing.The two girls - one orthodox Jewish the other orthodox Muslim - are portrayed as intelligent well educated young women who are teachers in a private school. They become friends through circumstance at the school. Principal Jacoby tells them in her office meeting with them that she can see their future and hints that she is willing to give them a chance to create their own lives. Otherwise their life will be decided for them by their outdated religious culture and what's the use of all their education if they are willing to be locked away by tradition. Here is the balance of the story!The Jewish girl seems to take this to heart but soon discovers she is in no way prepared for the world beyond her front door. The Muslim girl has already decided the outside world is not for her. They both stay within the safe boundaries of their religion and reject the concept of individuality as offered to them by Principal Jacoby.A real disappointment of a story because the ending makes the whole movie pointless. And I feel the directors Diane Crespo and Stefan C. Schaefer are just saying that religious fundamentalism is 'the way'.

This is really a nice movie, with highly sympathetic characters and a bit of tension between the Jewish and Muslim cultures (not too much, mind you), and a pleasant, happy, all's-well-with-the-world ending (apart from the prominent anti-male comment). But it leaves you wondering whether it isn't mostly a fantasy. Did family and neighbours really do no more than tsk-tsk at their friendship? No insults? No warnings? No threats? The young women were very family-bound and would have found it very difficult to choose friendship over family loyalty. But most of all did the two friends never talk about Israel and Palestine? How could they avoid a rift when that topic came up? Still, I suppose not every movie has to fit perfectly into reality. Arranged is a very nice feel-good movie that should have been seen more widely.