Rating: 7/10
Genre: Comedy
Related Titles: Out of Syllabus, In Another Life, Bend it Like Beckham
By Leanne Harragan
This is another one of those films that I'd literally heard nothing about until it suddenly appeared in the cinema listings for the week. Going into this completely blind I can't say that I didn't find some entertainment here! This Brit comedy while definitely being super bizarre, has some great gags thrown in and definitely has people laughing out loud in the screen.
The synopsis gives away the basic premise of this film, Omar and Pete are two half brothers. They look nothing alike and are both very different. When Omar is not really accepted into Pete's aunt and uncle's home, they instead embark on a journey together, to find Omar's dad, a man he's never met. So off they embark, with nothing more than a location and a name to follow.
Just like any other film where people set off on a 'journey of a lifetime', this unusual duo come face to face with their fair share of problems, including losing their luggage in a fast approaching tide, losing all their money and meeting some interesting people along the way. There seems to have been quite a few Brit films lately (Fighting with my Family, Fisherman's Friends, Wild Rose) I always especially enjoy these because they of the recognisable locations and language. Eaten By Lions is primarily set in Blackpool, a place with a pier with bizarre features like fortune tellers and funfairs, something that I consider to be quite a British feature. It's always nice to see familiar locations and settings like this.
It was interesting how a film that is primarily a comedy briefly touched upon some deeper topics. One of the key features of these half-brothers is that one of them is from an Asian background, these leads to some interesting comments on integration within British society and the it very briefly touches upon certain people that don't believe that integration works. Despite these ideas rearing their head, the film generally maintains a lighthearted, comical tone.
Antonia Akeel (Omar) and Jack Carroll (Pete) are great as a duo and are very funny. Both of them give great performances and show that they have good ability at delivering comedy. There are also plenty of other recognisable faces like Asim Chaudhry, Johnny Vegas and Hayley Tamaddon, all joining together to give good comical performances.
The bizarre title comes from the death of Jack and Omar's parents, both Eaten By Lions whilst away on holiday, This bizarre title seems to set the tone for the film as it's definitely pretty bizarre yet definitely something you could waste your time viewing of an evening.
Rating: 6/10
By Rebecca Mannick
Eaten by Lions was a movie in which got no promotional support and just showed up on the cinema listings. Off I went with zero expectations and what I witnessed was a pretty average but also charming British movie. Pete and Omar were half-brothers, who shared the same mother. However their parents were literally eaten by lions and brought up by their Gran. When their Gran dies Omar goes on a quest to find his biological father. From the get-go Omar felt like an outside, not only he was a different race to Pete but Pete also suffered from a disease which meant that he got preferential treatment.
Pete (Jack Carroll) and Omar (Antonio Aekeel) were a true comedy duo - they bounced off each other so well. There were some really great lines and conversations between the two. They bickered a lot but you knew deep down that they were proper brothers and always had each others backs. They got onto situations which were absolutely ridiculous and they naivety definitely showed but you always rooted for them you know.
The actual storyline of the movie was pretty basic. Nothing really crazy happened and it wasn't super gripping. But what it did have was a solid line of comedy the whole way through. What is lacked in entertainment it kind of made up with charm. I don't really have too much more to add apart from it is a good movie but obviously will not end up on my end of year list.
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