Directed by: Christopher Morris
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak, Arsher Ali, Adeel Akhtar
Rating: R

Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak, Arsher Ali star in Four Lions. (Courtesy photo)

The new pseudo-terrorism farce that is Four Lions is the sort of movie that keeps you talking for days afterwards, but not because it's a timeless cinematic triumph or, alternatively, a piece of trash. It's because the film deals with jihadists, terrorism, and death with a sense of humor that's simultaneously wholly inappropriate and Disney-movie endearing.

Four Lions follows Omar (Riz Ahmed), a family man with a steady job and the simple dream of blowing something—anything—up in the name of the jihad. His friends are his cohorts in his scheme, but none of them knows much about terrorism. When Omar and his particularly confused friend Waj (Kayvan Novak) get summoned to terrorism training camp, Barry (Nigel Lindsay), the quickest-tempered "martyr," becomes the de facto group leader back home. Of course, the members following him in the holy war aren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. Fessal's (Adeel Akhtar) only successful bombing victims are a crow and a sheep (and himself), while Hassan (Arsher Ali) believes the proper way to kick off a terrorist attack is with a poorly-written rap. When Omar and Waj get kicked out of camp, though, the five of them realize they're never going to get support from any legitimate terrorist organization. The buffoons are effectively on their own in their quest to blow up something important—that is, without blowing themselves up first.

Shot with the shaky camera effect and occasionally with handheld video cameras, the movie can at times be jarring to watch, but it's supposed to have that homemade feel. Meanwhile, director Chris Morris structures the movie without a clear purpose, but it isn't pointless. The scenes lead up to the end of the movie, not to any particular climax. Part of this structure comes from the screenplay, which Morris co-wrote. In a movie where the characters' main objectives coincide with their own deaths, it's hard to have a standard climax followed by a standard resolution. It's a clever take on the typical "I'm going to get what I want or I'm going to die trying" theme, in that it asks, "Why can't I have both?"

The performances are over the top—it is a farce, after all—but not stupidly so. Some characters, namely Barry and Fessal, are written flat, so Nigel Lindsay and Adeel Akhtar don't have much to work with. However, all the characters, flat or not, are distinct enough that we don't care if they're two-dimensional. We just want to see them. Arsher Ali's Hassan, the energetic rookie who cracks under pressure, and Kayvan Novak's Waj, the idiot who realizes too late that he's an idiot, are both hilarious to watch and more realistic than Fessal and Barry. And Riz Ahmed (Shifty), as Omar, has to balance farce, camaraderie, and family bonding all at the same time, and he does so splendidly. For an ensemble of actors you've never heard of, they do a great job of making you wish there were more movies like this.

I can't help but think of Four Lions as a 21st-century This Is Spinal Tap, as they have similar plot structures, similar characters, and similar direction styles. I mean this as a great compliment to Four Lions; I'll take a well-done shoestring-budget comedy over mind-blowing 3D animation or a searing human drama any day of the week. Four Lions is endearing to watch, and its terrible special effects and ludicrous premise only make it more so.

As a whole, though, the movie doesn't seem to have any underlying message; for a movie about such a sensitive subject as terrorism not to carry any message just feels wrong to an audience. Of course, that could be the point—not every movie about terrorism or the jihad has to make a statement about foreign policy or religion or ethnic relations. If anything, Four Lions is better off without those themes—political commentary would get in the way of the movie's humor. I don't mind—I'm perfectly content to just sit back and enjoy the romp.

Danny Eisenberg is a 2010 graduate of the Bromfield School and is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania.