Film Review: ‘Bank El Hazz’ Sets the Bar High for Egyptian Comedies
Comedy in Egypt has been literally the same for many years, to the point that we, the viewers, got bored and don’t really care about the movies anymore. It just always had the same formula; for instance, the same type of jokes that we all recognize, the same stereotyping and shaming, the dramatic endings and unneeded romance.
Then we get a film like Bank El Hazz — starring Mohamed Mamdouh, Akram Hosny and Mohamed Tharwat, written by Mostafa Sakr and Mohamed Ezz El Deen and directed by Ahmed El Gendy — that breaks all these rules.
The story follows three men, from different intellectual levels and social classes, who get together to rob a bank and eventually fall into a series of comedic events.
The chemistry between the three leading male actors was just beautiful. Mohamed Mamdouh is a man of many roles, from drama to comedy, and he perfects both. Mohamed Tharwat is an underrated comedian who has been building his name in comedy for years. Then comes Akram Hosny who I really don’t even need to talk about, because Abo Hafeeza can make anyone laugh!
Directing must be the hardest part in creating a comedy. A film can have a good story and a funny cast but can fail to make people laugh if the directing isn’t good. However, Ahmed Gendy did a great job with directing.
The story and the events were absolutely brilliant! The events leading to and during the robbery were hilarious, and didn’t contain any clichés. The only thing that I didn’t like was (SPOILER ALERT, DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE MOVIE TO BE SPOILED) that it had a happy ending.
Bank El Hazz is coming out today in cinemas in Egypt and it’s a must watch. It has been years since I laughed this hard while watching an Egyptian comedy movie.
