Jeddahite
VIP Member
- Oct 31, 2015
- 294
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I'll take anything with Tom Hanks. This is a quirky little movie that may appeal more to those who've been to Saudi Arabia. One false note: the lingerie store. It's been 20 years since I've been to Jeddah, but I still don't think lingerie stores are displaying wares in windows. What struck me most about the movie was the surreal quality Hanks's character experienced. Nothing was ever as it seemed. Appointments were never kept, and excuses may or not be real. I saw the guards at gates wave people on, if they bothered to wake up at all. Hanks waits to meet the king, who may never be coming, or coming right NOW! Years ago, I saw Yemenis pick cars up off the street when the king's motorcade was coming. In the movie, laborers are hastily sticking palm trees into the ground before the king arrives. The laborer on the heavy equipment is a metaphor: you may wait years in anticipation of something, and then it happens in a flurry of activity and it's just as suddenly over without any real conclusion. Then the movie explores relationships without any real conclusions there, either. I enjoyed it but I don't think it'll have a huge following.
