East Is East
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
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  1. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    90
    Get your titles straight -- this is the good one, and a roaring good time.
    All this critic's reviews
  2. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: M. V. Moorhead
    90
    There is some meandering, episodic raggedness to the plotting, but Khan-Din's dialogue has a fine, naturalistic flow, and the young, debuting director O'Donnell, who's neither English nor Pakistani but Irish, skillfully keeps the material from showing too clearly its theatrical origins.
  3. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    90
    We've seen the clash of cultures and generations before,--- but never quite so humorously. This time, the focus is on the Pakistanis living in England, and it's quite amazingly done, perky and inventive to the core.
  4. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    90
    The actor (Puri) and the film make something fine, winning and memorable.
    All this critic's reviews
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    He (Puri) is one of the most consistently excellent film actors that his country - or the world - has produced. And East is East, a grand cultural hybrid, is a real movie, too - raw, funny and wonderfully mixed up.
    All this critic's reviews
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Foreman
    88
    East Is East is "The Full Monty" of 2000, a fresh, funny and poignant film filled with sparkling performances.
    All this critic's reviews
  7. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: G. Allen Johnson
    88
    May be the funniest movie about parental and spousal abuse ever made.
    All this critic's reviews
  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Staff [Not Credited]
    88
    A robust family comedy that saves its wildest moments for a climactic "get-together."
    All this critic's reviews
  9. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    88
    Examines Muslim family's religious warfare.
  10. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
    80
    The proceedings are leavened also with a carefree sense of humor -- including some clever, jokey camera work -- and given depth by a cache of marvelous performances.
  11. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Amy Taubin
    80
    Largely a showcase for Puri, and he rises to the occasion with a performance that bursts from the screen and tears into your heart.
  12. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    80
    Stars the cult celebrity Om Puri, widely considered by cinephiles to be one of the best actors in the world.
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    80
    A sprightly acted, warm and often extremely funny ensemble comedy.
  14. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    80
    An edgy, irreverent, thoroughly winning comedy.
  15. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    If there is a weakness in East Is East, it's that Om Puri's character is a little too serious for the comedy surrounding him.
  16. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Curtis Morgan
    75
    O'Donnell has a fine eye for the small details of life and the movie feels rich, warm and real .
    All this critic's reviews
  17. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    75
    At its simplest level, East Is East is a broad comedy, but Puri's acting, so honest and heartbreaking, gives the film weight.
  18. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    75
    This engaging ensemble comedy that could have been called ''Father Doesn't Know Best.''
    All this critic's reviews
  19. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    75
    Bounces between funny and chilling.
  20. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    70
    Above all a man's confrontation with self in middle-age and his need to accept the fact that his children, beyond their mixed ancestry, are after all native-born English citizens.
  21. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    60
    Plays like "The Honeymooners" might have if Ralph Kramden were from Pakistan, but with less laughs and more ignorant spite.
    All this critic's reviews
  22. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    58
    A movie in which the easy socio-racial paradoxes have been diagrammed with more care than the relationships
  23. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    50
    Unwisely bills itself as a comedy.
    All this critic's reviews
  24. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    50
    Mixes broad humor with a surprisingly subtle portrait of a family pulled in a bewildering variety of directions.
  25. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Bryan Poyser
    50
    A pleasure to watch for the cast alone and their accomplishments should not be obscured by underwritten characters and overwritten jokey set-pieces.
  26. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    40
    Far less insulting to Pakistanis or Mancunians than it is to its audience.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. rolitheone
    7
    “East is East” is a 1999 comedy drama directed by Damien O’Donnell and based on a play by writer Ayub Khan-Din. The story is revolving around round an English-Pakistani Family and their struggle of cultural identity in early 1970’s England. George Khan, portrayed by Om Puri, is a Muslim, who immigrated from Pakistan to England in 1937 in hope for better prospects, leaving behind his first wife. At the time of the movie, he has been married for 25 years to his catholic, English Wife, Ella Khan (Linda Bassett), with who he has 7 children. George Khan is a very conservative person and as such wants to make sure to raise his kids in a certain Islamic way. Therefore he embraces a very father dominated, strictly religious education for his children. So, when he feels he isn’t respected as much as he wishes to be, he also tends to be very aggressive and also violent at times. Ella Khan is, however, the complete opposite of her husband George. She is an ordinary British catholic woman who owns the family’s fish and chips shop. She offers freedom, support and attention to her kids and their interests.
    The story starts with the wedding of Nazir Khan, George and Ella Khan’s eldest son,who is to be wedded to a woman chosen by his father. But Nazir flees the wedding at the last second as he wants to choose his partner himself. After this, his father declares him dead and disowns him for not following his rules. Nazir’s bailing out also has consequences for his siblings. Disgraced by his eldest son’s behavior George Khan tightens the rules and sends the rest of his offspring to Quran school. When later word gets out that two more of his sons are to be wedded to almost cartoonishly ugly Pakistani women against their will, the children’s unstable mix of feeling British but being forced to live according to their father’s Pakistani ways threatens to eventually deliver the spark of ignition.
    “East is East” is a pretty clever package. To most viewers, it presents and advertises itself as a pretty simple and fun comedy. Yet, the movie is filled with much deeper intents than to simply entertain people. It is a portrait of everyday life of semi-immigrant families in Britain’s 1970’s. As such it confronts its viewers with difficult themes such as heterophobia and also the classical problem of the gap between generations. George Khan, is clearly afraid that his disobedient children turn away from his beliefs and towards new forms of “foreign” (british) pop-culture which he does not understand or at least not accept. Being the dominant father George Khan is, he tends to be very aggressive towards disobedient behavior, so the theme of domestic violence is a constant threat to their family as well. The main theme, however, still is people’s fight for identity; children, born and raised in Britain by a catholic mother on the one hand and a conservative Pakistani and Muslim father on the other, in a constant struggle to finding out where they truly belong.
    Writer Ayub Khan-Din based the story of “East is East” on his own experience with his parents, adding an auto-biographic touch to the movie through which it gains a lot of authenticity. But what makes this movie really stick out are the amazing actors, on top of all Om Puri, an Indian legend when it comes to drama. His impersonation of the conservative Muslim George Khan is so good he actually makes you hate him for his stubbornness while, at the same time, you always somehow seem to be able to relate to him in some way. When I saw the movie I was a little disappointed, because from what I had heard before I was expecting a comedy drama. The thing is, this is more of a drama than it might seem and the comedy part is just a neat disguise to lure people into watching this movie. Viewing it as the drama that it is, “East is East” is an utterly convincing glimpse into everyday problems of families who have different cultural and religious backgrounds. As this topic is as timeless as humanity itself the movie becomes an instant classic regarding cultural difference and identity. I certainly enjoyed the movie for its laughs as well, just don’t make the same mistake as I did and expect a comedy movie or you might be disappointed.    … Full Review »
  2. lasttimeisaw
    7
    Aka. FISH & CHIP, a UK film whose plot hinges on a Pakistani family living in UK, the patriarch is a traditional chauvinist whose only tenet is to do everything in Pakistani muslim ways, while the mother is English, with 7 children, the cultural collision and marriage-defiant headaches begin to aggravate the family, and finally ends with a drolly amusing farce. From Irish director Damien O… Full Review »
  3. geedup
    8
    Surprizingly good movie, with good dialog and twists to follow. I sat follow cuz' you do have to listen close to the dialog. Intertwined within mideastern ethics, it turns out family problems and idiocentrices can be related to our own. A good watch....however the sequel (West is West) is not.… Full Review »
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