Set in the Pakistani community in London, this coming-of-age story follows Omar (Saeed Jaffrey), a young man who gets his start in business through his not-entirely-scrupulous uncle.Omar has ambitions of transforming a grotty laundrette into a first-class establishment. To this end, he enlists the aid of an old friend (and soon-to-be-lover) (Daniel Day-Lewis), much to the displeasure of the latter’s skinhead friends. Family, racism, Thatcherism, sexism, homosexuality,organized crime and laundromats might sound like a lot to pack into 98 minutes, but this wry, sly comedy does so with grace and agility.
Audio
The sound is mono, and is, for the most part, clean, warm and nicely layered. There is some minor static, though, and the voices do have a tendency to distort and buzz. Budget and age(almost twenty years now, my how time flies) should be taken into consideration, but the result is certainly not perfect.
Video
The picture is fairly good, though there is a strange vertical line of distortion that pops up about 32 minutes in for a few seconds. There are some grainy moments too, especially involving exteriors, and the pictures is a little soft. The colours and contrasts are very strong, however, and the format is 1.78:1 anamorphic.
Special Features
The trailer, a basic menu, and that’s it.
Closing Thoughts
Sharply observed characters and sparkling dialogue highlight this comedy, which certainly deserves both the attention it received in 1985, and the DVD release it now has.
