Monsieur Ibrahim

Movies about kids who befriend elderly eccentrics (and vice versa) are hardly rare, but FranHois Dupeyron's Monsieur Ibrahim makes the old story seem almost new again. Here, the youth is Momo (Pierre Boulanger), a lonely Jewish teen living with his dour, unaffectionate father in 1960s Paris, just on the cusp of manhood and interested in both the local prostitutes and the girl downstairs. Momo's friendship with a shopkeeper named Ibrahim (Omar Sharif)--a Muslim grocer who's a Turkish Sufi, always ready with a lesson from the Koran--expands after the boy's father abandons him, and Ibrahim adopts him. Suddenly overcome by the rapture of parenthood, Ibrahim buys his new “son” a flashy car and takes Momo on a wondrous trip to his homeland, introducing him to the joys and profundities of life along the way. Granted, this is a fairly frail and shopworn storyline (and the denouement is a bit of a letdown), but the infectious geniality, evocative sense of place, timely cross-cultural message, and affecting lead performances make it shine. Sharif has great fun playing the serenely happy shopkeeper, and newcomer Boulanger invests Momo with not only charm but also surprising depth and poignancy. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by star Omar Sharif, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a small but solid film.] (F. Swietek)