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Four Lions is the story of men in Great Britain who decide that bombs are better than their current way of life. They consider themselves soldiers in a war against---well, they can’t seem to agree.  Is it the treatment of Muslims in the world?  No progress with peace? They want to become martyrs? The men are unhappy with themselves and violence is the answer? Along the way, they manage to amass explosive components (by ordering on Amazon.com) and put together explosive devices by just plain, dumb luck. What happens then?

So, we meet Omar (Riz Ahmed), married to a beautiful woman and with a son. His life is comfortable, but clashes with his peaceful, fundamentalist brother. Then, there is the convert, Barry (Nigel Lindsay), a barrel of a man with quite a temper. Waj (Kayvan Novak) follows Omar’s lead and is in a quandary when he has to make decisions for himself. Finally, Faisal (Adeel Akhtar), the soft-spoken one, tries to place bombs on crows so they can carry the bombs elsewhere. The men put together a plan, rent an apartment with a nosey neighbor, and go through a series of experiences that almost puts them out of business. It is when they decide to go ahead with their plan, as part of a costumed charity run, that humor comes into play. Their luck starts to get shaky as police are nearby for the race and explosives can be unstable.

In the center of Four Lions is the ability to kill. Do you learn it or is it already there just ready to be primed? Just when is a person a martyr anyway? This is a point that is argued in the film. Always, they announce it is “God’s will,” but is this statement believed by the men? Smuggling bomb parts in shopping bags along a busy street and no one notices?  During the costumed charity race, a command is given to shoot a “bear” and the policeman shoots a Wookie, instead, not knowing the difference. Humorous moment are when two of them travel to the Middle East and try to bring down a drone with a missile seeker, or try their costumes on backward for the charity race.

The dialects are difficult to understand, though, and even halfway through the film, you may not be able to catch every word the men are saying. This detracts from the story and why people do certain things. Of the four lead actors, Riz Ahmed as Omar, stands out. Here is someone caught up with something that is slowly spiraling out of control.

Four Lions gives us men who want to be glorified as part of an army, but they don’t have the dedication. It just sounds good with loud music at 3 a.m.

Copyright 2010 Marie Asner