Ìý User Rating 
"You can't blame the young for believing in something except money," says Rachel Griffiths' sage prostitute, Bettina, to Om Puri's angst-ridden taxi driver, Parvez, as the two outsiders seek solace in each other from the confusing, harsh world of Northern England.
Parvez is bemoaning his son Farid's sudden conversion to Islam, a conversion that has seen this promising student abandon his studies, sell his belongings, and ditch his white fiancee.
Farid's fanaticism shatters the comfortable, if unsatisfying, equilibrium of Parvez's life. Up until now he has been able to turn a blind eye to racism; enjoy the company of Bettina without judging the oldest profession; and generally do anything - including setting up Stellan Skarsgård's German businessmen with his friend - without being forced to question his morality. His son's virulent hatred of a "society soaked in sex", his rage at racism, his desire for "belief, purity, belonging to the past", tips him into a moral maelstrom.
Writer Hanif Kureishi has made a career, as both novelist and screenwriter, out of examining the cultural complexities and problems of the British Asian community and/or middle-aged men. In Parvez, he creates a believably flawed character - a compassionate man whose actions might be unsavoury, were they not carried out with such a naive good will. Puri delivers an astounding performance, playing a father wracked by doubt and despair (his dilemma an inversion of his character's in "East is East") and the Australian Griffiths totally convinces as a Bradford "tart".
An intelligent, thought-provoking film which doesn't offer any answers, but raises several challenging, important questions.
