Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero (2016) Reviews

• Better Than You'd Think

  dongillette12016-09-17

  I watched this thinking it'd be a waste of time or a Borat rip-off or a boring stereotypical attempt at comedy. Well, okay... it was stereotypical, but not in a bad way. AND it was pretty funny. Not that many "Middle Eastern" jokes--only enough so you don't forget the character is a new arrival in the US and not completely in tune with American society. I hadn't heard of Maz Jobrani before this; I saw him in The Interpreter but evidently he didn't make that much of an impression. In this movie, as the star, he was great. Just the right amount of slapstick and just the right amount of naivete. The back stories were pretty good, didn't detract from the movie at all, and actually helped give insight into the main character (as much as you can expect in a comedy). This ain't Caddyshack, Young Frankenstein, or The Big Lebowski--but it was good fun and PG-13.

• Great Comedy! Extremely Underrated!!

  smilegel2016-09-15

  Slightly reminded me of Borat movies,but with more class and no gross acts... Which makes this OK for kids too. I am not Iranian,but I really enjoyed this movie. I think the fact I have some Iranian friends did help to make this movie funnier as I knew a lot about Iranian families. The joke about chandeliers was one of them :) There are a lot of gross and not funny comedies these days and this movie was a breath of fresh air. I wish they will make more! All actors were funny and did a good job playing their roles. A solid 7/10

• Funny Iranians

  GManfred2016-06-02

  Nowadays, you don't connect comedy and Iran in the same sentence, but in "Jimmy Vestvood, Amerikan Hero", it's more than permissible - it's necessary. It's a very funny comedy in a contemporary landscape of juvenile attempts at humor which appeal to the audiences lower instincts. This picture, on the other hand, is genuinely funny via a clever screenplay. It capitalizes on its characters naivete and lack of background in the English language and American customs, resulting in several very funny exchanges between Iranians vs. Americans and, in some cases, Iranians vs. Iranians. In truth, the humor is uneven, but it is tough to maintain a high level of humor throughout a full length feature. But "Jimmy Vestvood" tries. A quick summary; Our hero wins a lottery and comes to America with his mother. He wants to be a Private Eye like his idol, Steve McQueen, but is quickly mistaken for a jihadist. Meanwhile, he is hired by a U.S. Senator as a bagman for a payoff to an enemy agent for weapons to a foreign country to start a war. Got it so far? Doesn't matter - confusion is part of the fun, so just go with our hero (Maz Jobrani), who is brilliantly funny in a way that Sasha Baron Cohen ("Borat") tries to be. Jobrani, however, succeeds and is funnier. Sound like a good movie? Too bad, it's already gone from the NYC area. It deserved a better fate as it's the best comedy I've seen so far this year, better than "The Nice Guys".

• Stupid movie to avoid

  eloy_lb2018-10-15

  This movie is not funny, trying too hard and insulting sometimes. Why make a joke about Jesus painting?

• A Propaganda Movie

  hassnawi21112016-09-15

  It's a sort of propaganda movie used for political reasons. This movie reminds of the 70s till 90s' ones which depicted USSR as a demonic country. These kinds of movies represent US foreign policy towards hostile countries such as Iran. A quick summary; Our hero wins a lottery and comes to America with his mother. He wants to be a Private Eye like his idol, Steve McQueen, but is quickly mistaken for a jihadist. Meanwhile, he is hired by a U.S. Senator as a bait for a payoff to an enemy agent for weapons to a foreign country to start a war. Got it so far? Doesn't matter - confusion is part of the fun, so just go with our hero (Maz Jobrani), who is brilliantly funny in a way that Sasha Baron Cohen ("Borat") tries to be. Jobrani, however, succeeds and is funnier. Sound like a good movie? Too bad, it's already gone from the NYC area. It's a stupid way of depicting great civilization through trivial means.