bluleaf I rewatched this movie for the second time and I still can't believe it was made in 1985 and it's still as relevant today as it was in the 80's. This movie was ahead of its time and is too underrated. I absolutely love the take on Omar and Johnny, and their blossoming romance among the other plot. I just love how they don't bother explaining about their relationship, it' just is there, like in many movies with romantic plot lines. Great movie, everyone should see this. And I loved the ending.

Kahli Griffin This film feels kind of sloppily put together and not thoroughly explored in terms of characters, themes, cultures, etc. I found it difficult to follow, with characters flitting about, making odd decisions, and the repercussions being suggested rather than explored. I felt like the homosexual themes, and the cultural struggles weren't well explored, and therefore the movie ended up being rather meaningless.

SnoopyStyle Johnny Burfoot (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a squatter in rundown abandoned houses. Hussein "Papa" Ali gets his son Omar a job with his successful uncle Nasser at his car wash. Papa is a drunken disillusioned socialist reporter from Bombay. Omar gets hassled by a group of whites but he is saved by their leader Johnny who is his childhood friend. Nasser lets Omar manage the run down laundrette. Omar hires Johnny to work for him.Director Stephen Frears brings some of the new Pakistani flavor into his London movie. I don't think Gordon Warnecke is particularly nuanced and is not really leading man material. Frears has the great fortune of casting Daniel Day-Lewis. He's wonderful and so is Roshan Seth. The look is more or less TV production level. This has some very compelling scenes dealing with very serious issues.

preppy-3 Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is a Pakistani boy living in London caring for his sick father. His father gets his uncle to get him a job. Omar starts by washing cars but ends up buying a falling apart launderette from his uncle. He also meets his ex Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) a punk British kid. They refurbish the place and start having sex. But Johnny's friends HATE Pakistanis and the class differences between Omar and Johnny threaten to tear them apart.This is often called a gay movie but I disagree. Yes there are two gay characters in it but their love story is just one of many elements. It deals mostly with the war between the British and Pakistani immigrants. The love story consists only of a few long and incredibly uncomfortable kisses. Both of the actors are str8 and (by all accounts) hated the kissing scenes. It comes through clearly on screen. That aside there lots of drama and comedy about Omar and his family and Johnny and his friends. This takes place in 1985 Britain and was originally shot for British TV so I didn't get all the cultural references and know very little about British life back then. Still I was able to pretty much follow it. The acting is very good by the supporting cast but the two leads don't really work. Warnecke is way too naïve to be believable and when he tries to act like he's tough it's laughable. Day-Lewis is VERY badly miscast as a punk. He was about 27 when he did this and looks older. He's a great actor NOW but back then had a lot to learn. Still this was an interesting comedy/drama about 1985 Britain.