The problem with most mainstream comedies these days is a lack of consequences. Take, for instance, "The Hangover," in which a group of idiots are celebrated for destroying their hotel room, stealing a police car and losing their soon-to-be-married friend, among other things.
Does anything really happen to these guys for such stupidity and debauchery? Of course not. All ends well, despite actions that lead one to surmise things are heading toward tragedy.
On the other end of that spectrum is "Four Lions," a nasty little dark comedy from the U.K. with the courage to actually follow through on its convictions. Here is a very funny and smart film that presents a group of wannabe jihadist suicide bombers, of varying degrees of stupidity, hoping to kill innocent people at the London Marathon.
The script, and the performances from the leads, make for an edgy comedy that deftly balances laughs (mostly character- and dialogue-driven ones, with some good, old-fashioned slapstick) while humanizing people who are typically portrayed in movies as one-note, mustache-twirling bad guys. These are bad guys, but they're still human beings -- albeit really stupid ones -- but they always remain grounded in the real world.
The group of characters creates a hierarchy of idiocy. At the top is Omar (Riz Ahmed), who seems like a genius among his cronies. He's the leader who gets a shot at becoming a true soldier when he's invited to Pakistani terrorist training camp, an opportunity he quickly screws up after a rocket-propelled grenade mishap.
Omar returns to England with his friend Waj (who's almost the dumbest of the clan, but not quite), ready to go through with a plan that will make some headlines. There's Barry, a convert to Islam; he wants to blow up a mosque. Faisal takes the crown as the dumbest; he doesn't last too long once things get serious, in one of the film's funniest scenes. Lastly is new recruit Hassan, who raps terribly and gets in over his head.
The film ends with one of the darkest denouements you're likely to see in a comedy. But -- and here's the key to the film's success -- it's the right ending. For it to conclude any other way would be a cheat.
Co-writer and director Chris Morris, in his feature-film debut, shows a skillful hand behind the camera, knowing which audience buttons to push and when to hold back. He makes light of things that are taboo and not often thought of as funny, and he does so with a documentary realism befitting the subject matter (it's as if we're watching the videos taken by the characters). "Four Lions" is hilarious and endlessly quotable, and it doesn't shy away from showing the consequences of what actually happens when idiots go through with a bad idea.
