Movie Review: Arranged

Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim
Assalaam Alaikum

This movie is called Arranged, it is a wonderful movie about the friendship between a Muslim woman (Nasira) and an Orthodox Jewish woman (Rochel). My husband and I liked it so much, when we first saw it, we watched it twice in one week!
Arranged takes place in New York City. It has three main settings: Rochel's world, Nasira's world, and the world they share: a Brooklyn public elementary school, where they meet and become friends. Both women are first-year teachers at the aforementioned school and the movie opens with their being trained to handle the variety of different cultures that their students will come from. The first sign of tension comes from the principal of the school asking teachers to share something "juicy" about themselves to the other teachers in the group. While one woman has something decidedly juicy to say, neither Nasira nor Rochel does.
Outside of the school, both women are going through the process of trying to find a husband. Rochel has a very strict and traditional way in which she can find one, while Nasira is introduced to different men by her family. While Rochel goes through a myriad of different men (each one highly defective in their own hilarious way), Nasira has one bad experience with a friend of her father's who is twenty years older than she and chews with his mouth open.

I don't know about any other sisters out there, but bad table manners would be enough for me to send any suitor packing.

Anyhow, at school Rochel is an assistant to a special needs student who participates in Nasira's grade four class. One day, class is interrupted by some students who were saying to each other that Nasira and Rochel could never be friends because of their different religions ("But I heard the Muslims wanted to push Israel back into the ocean."). They are confronted by the principal about the event, who then goes off on a tirade about how they are beautiful girls, if only they would come out of the dark ages and dress like modern women!

As the movie goes on, tensions within Rochel's family rise (considering her incompatibility with all her suitors), and tensions between the principal and the two women rise as well, while all this time the unlikely friendship between Rochel and Nasira grows. Masha'Allah, it is a wonderful movie that portrays a loving Muslim family very well. And for Muslims who don't know a lot about Jews, the executive producer was Orthodox Jewish, so the portrayal of Rochel's family is probably very accurate as well.

This is a good film to open your eyes to your neighbours and consider what they are really like, rather than what All Jews are like or All Muslims. Everyone is different. This film is a beautiful example of it. I have posted the trailer below, but it really doesn't do the movie justice. If you go to YouTube and type in "Arranged the movie" into the search thing, you can watch the entire thing, but frankly, I suggest you go out and buy it. It is a wonderful movie!

Enjoy the trailer, but please watch the whole thing!