Fiasco is a short film that depicts Nora, an Arab transplant to America introduced to us an artist who has married a gay man to obtain her green card. As the opening scene started, I found myself wondering if this was going to be the same old tale we have seen in various "I married for citizenship" comedies of the past. It started off a little corny and predictable as Nora grills gay Danny on family facts in preparation of an impending INS visit. Danny is portrayed as gay caricature in spandex with pink leggings and this continues for the duration of the film. What surprised me though as the film went on, was not the introduction of conflict in the form of a surprise visit by her father or the arrival of her crush for a first date, but the fun and fast paced method in which the actors performed and progressed through it. The strict and judgmental Arabic father, Danny the gay, and father's secret Russian wife are all played to exaggerated form, however the action is so fun and lively that I began to really not mind it so much. You are wondering how far is Nora going to go? This became especially entertaining as she wanders through the house swigging directly from a bottle of wine realizing the jig is definitely up. At Fiasco's climax, as the INS pays its not so surprising visit, Nora decides she has had it and turns a corny overacted story into something we can all relate to - we all want to live our lives in ways that make us happy. We all seek freedom from either over bearing parents or society's opinions of us - a clever nod to the subtle insertion that not even Danny's parents know he is gay. Fiasco is fun, sweet, and cute - not a bad way to spend 18 minutes.
Review of Fiasco
