Not Without My Daughter (1991) is Not Without its merits. It stars Sally Fields and Alfred Molina as Mahmoud "Moody" Mahmadinejad, a Persian. It also stars a collection of tanned Israelis and possible Kurds. The story is simple. Moody is an accomplished doctor and Sally is his loyal wife, living in America, land of free eagles. One day Moody's coworkers poke fun at his foreign newspaper and his emerging unibrow, causing him great shame. He subsequently moves to Iran, the land of unibrows.But Not Without his daughter! And his wife, Sally Fields. The times are fun at first -- a goat is slaughtered next to their taxi and armed fashionistas crack down on Sally's bangs. Then things go sour, like a Persian yogurt drink. Moody's family are overbearing Muslims with a hankering for oppressing women. Also there is a war apparently. Who could have guessed?? War in the Middle East!
Moody becomes more cruel and oppressive as his skin grows darker, and his beard grows thicker. He is completing his transformation into a full-fledged Persian. Sally will have none of it, and tries to escape with her daughter, not without her daughter.
Thankfully, a British/Indian hybrid helps her along, with the help of a gang of shifty-eyed Kurds. One of whom is a compulsive snuggler. Finally Sally escapes to Turkey, America's number one ally, and land of free turkeys, and Turks.
We learn from this movie that Iran is a primitive, backwards country. It's full of ayatollahs and flying nuns. It is not a place you want to visit, especially during wartime, or anytime (except the summer -- when the gardens are nice.)
If you are a spouse, don't visit, or prepare to be abused. Or, just watch the film from your living room and live vicariously! This movie earns as many stars as there are pillars in Islam, five. You can even watch this film five times a day, for the ultimate religious experience. As they say in Iran somewhere, "پنج ستاره!"
