Zahaymar looked like a promising Adel Imam comeback and while ultimately it kept some promises. it broke others. After the disastrous Bobos, Adel Imam fans have waited for the veteran superstar to deliver a movie that would salvage his name. The result is Zahaymar, which keeps Imam’s reputation for delivering comedy afloat but does not leave a lasting imprint.
‘Zahaymar’ is the Arabic name for Alzheimer’s disease. The film, as the title implies, promises a look into the dreaded brain disease, which causes problems with memory, thinking and behaviour, in some sort of semi-comedic format. Part of the promise was delivered when the first 15 minutes of the movie took us through the life of a wealthy businessman, Mahmoud Sho’aib (Adel Imam), who wakes up with servants and nurses that he doesn’t remember. The starting sequence is powerful and we’re drawn into this intensity because we have no idea who he is or who these people are. We’re as lost and Sho’aib, who is certain that he does not have Alzheimers and refuses to take his medication rather than acknowledge that having the disease is something he has forgotten. It takes a while to understand the kind of prison he is in and to make matters worse his sons are conspiring to take over his empire while he is alive. As Sho’aib discovers more about himself and his past life we experience a very strong sense of claustrophobia.
Great cinematography and the moving music of Omar Khayrat set the mood for a drama of a man setting out to find out about who he is through others. There are the problems of reconciling who he thinks he is and who others tell him he is. He is shocked to discover a history of promiscuous sex and friends who party all night in a way he does not remember or relate to. His own memory is so different to what others present and it’s not until he meets his life-long best friend, Shaf’ie (Ahmed Rateb), that he accepts defeat and starts taking his medication.
In this segment of the film we witnesses a very moving performance by Adel Imam, particularly when he meets another of his long-time friends (Saeed Saleh), who is in the advanced stages of Alzheimers. The result is extremely poignant as Sho’aib sees that his friend’s mind has gone, and he is unable to remember anything about his life and he is forsaken by everyone he knew. Imam’s performance is reminiscent of the US actor, Jack Nicholson, completely captivating and heartfelt. (Indeed, even the film’s poster is very close to About Schmidt, where Nicholson plays Warren Schmidt, a retired man trying to connect with his daughter after his wife’s death).
But unlike Nicholson’s Schmidt, Sho’aib’s troubles are short-lived and that’s when all the promises held by the movie are broken. Through a twist of events the movie becomes a farcical comedy that has nothing to do with the disease, thus betraying its own title. The jokes are extremely predictable and recycled and only funny if I had forgotten all previous movies with this sort of repetitive humour. Forgetfulness is the key, and it seems that the script-writers, much like the protagonist, forgot that the character and his sons (Fathy Abdel Wahab and Ahmed Rizk) must have had some history. The characters are real enough to empathise with but the result is a multitude of one-dimensional characters skating on a thin plot.
Much of the movie becomes stale from that point on, despite the powerful start. The scenes that ensue have good moments but are generally unimpressive.
Zahaymar keeps a promise to Adel Imam’s fans of being better than Bobos, but not with enough conviction. The film leaves much to be desired from Egypt’s most prominent star, whose fine performance in the opening scenes are not enough to salvage the movie. In the end Zahaymar managed to be another one of those movies baked for Eid, but with a much more intriguing premise.
Starring: Adel Imam, Ahmed Rateb, Nelly Karim, Fathy Abdel Wahab, Ahmed Rizk, Lotfi Labib, Esaad Younis
Produced by: Al Arabia cinema; Music by: Omar Khayrat; Written by: Nader Salah Eldin; Directed by: Amr Arafa
Showing at Tiba, Metro, Bandar Cinema (Maadi), Genena, Renaissance Wonderland, Renaissance Downtown, Renaissance 6th October, Renaissance Nile City Cinema, Renaissance Cairo Mall, Sheraton, Good News Grand Hyatt, Family Cinema, City Centre, Rehab Cinema, Dandy Mall, Golf City Cinema, Rivoli
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