Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 03/07/1986(USA)
Release Date: 06/03/2003
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: MGM
After the death of his wife and his subsequent descent into alcoholic near-agoraphobia, a crotchety Pakistani intellectual convinces his shady entrepreneur brother to provide work for his son in this multi-layered portrait of the immigrant experience in Great Britain. Young Londoner
Omar (
Gordon Warnecke) isn't sure what he wants out of life, but his uncle
Nasser (
Saeed Jaffrey) provides a corrupt, capitalist role model as
Omar graduates from washing cars for the old crook to running his run-down laundromat. After a chance meeting with
Johnny (
Daniel Day-Lewis), an old school chum whose flirtation with fascism deeply wounded
Omar's principled
Papa (
Roshan Seth),
Omar hires the young thug to work for him. Soon, the pair begin a romantic relationship that remains as under-wraps as the illicit drug-running and enforcement work they perform for
Nasser's associate,
Salim (
Derrick Branche). On the domestic front,
Omar must balance his knowledge of
Nasser's long-running affair with posh Brit
Rachel (
Shirley Ann Field) with his own loyalty and attraction to
Nasser's Westernized daughter,
Tania (
Rita Wolf). After successfully transforming his laundrette into a vision of resplendent pastel suds and providing a bright spot in his otherwise sqalid London neighborhood,
Omar seems to have a bright future in
Nasser's organization. The spectre of
Johnny's past, however, combines with
Omar's conflicted immigrant loyalties to threaten the sense of identity the young man has managed to stake out for himself. British-born, half-Pakistani playwright and novelist
Hanif Kureishi won an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for
My Beautiful Laundrette, which was originally filmed for
BBC television.
Kureishi collaborated again with director
Stephen Frears on
Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.
~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
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