Where Do We Go Now has a very interesting premise: Muslims versus Christians in a village in Lebanon. Where Do We Go Now also has one of the weirdest bits of execution I've seen all year. While the film tries hard to bounce back between comedy and drama, the heavy-handed moments make us forget we have even laughed. Also, the film never is daring enough to plainly point out the message it is trying to convey.
The film features some interesting moments, but those are too far and in between and the interesting moments fall slave to the less than desirable acting and writing. I will confess that I liked the first musical number between two characters, but after the fact the music just felt like an excuse to make the film longer. Also, the characters never really develop to a satisfying degree. Perhaps I should blame the performers for that. They never get into their characters or fully flesh them out.
The film also features a weak plot point in which the women of the village bring in women dressed in sleazy clothes to tempt the men. This brings to light the (mostly) ineffective attempt at comedy. These women are out of place, and the men love them anyway. However, nothing happens that is funny with this. Sure, the sucking up of the men could be funny to a certain demographic. Perhaps a demographic of men who do this every day or women who have had this experience. I am neither of these people, so I just found it lame.
I will acknowledge that a good chunk of people who will see this film will enjoy it. I can see the demographic within the film. However, Where Do We Go Now does not make us of the premise at hand, and after a while ends up just become really boring. I would recommend Where Do We Go Now for people who are looking for a film that is heavy on drama with some comedy mixed in. As a film critic, I try to see films for what they are, but this was far too heavy handed for my taste.
2 out of 5 Stars
The film is rated PG-13 for thematic drug material, some sensuality and violent images
