The movie repeatedly makes the point that Somalia is a “land of poets,” where ancient people resolved their disputes with language - which, of course, is directly at odds with the image we see today of skinny, snaggle-toothed bandits wielding AK-47s.
What at first feels incongruous about “Dabka” turns out to be its greatest insight into Somali culture, as the film communicates the strange way in which certain millennia-old customs still flourish amid third-world conditions (“Malaria is very rampant here, as is rats,” Jay’s host tells him). More amusing is the revelation that nearly all interactions rely on khat, a local drug Jay is expected to bring to interviews, implying that Somalia may be a stoner’s paradise and that he may be uniquely qualified to understand it. Instead, Peters plays it as Seth Rogen might have, braying his lines like an uncouth American, while reminding us that he’s actually Canadian - a distinction that supplies a running gag that manages to be funny exactly never. It’s not so much that Jay needs to be a more likable character, but a little vulnerability would have gone a long way, and a more experienced actor might have found a more effective balance. The movie’s much too flashy, allowing its cheeky attitude to overpower the otherwise humanist message (somehow, absurd situations feel less so when the narrator is constantly pointing out how outrageous everything seems to be), while the acting is all over the place.
Many have wondered how Buckley might follow up that coup, and “Dabka” demonstrates an admirable desire to challenge what’s safe and conventional, even as it reveals certain weaknesses as a director. Using rock music and vivid worst-case-scenario nightmares to amplify Jay’s anxiety en route, “Dabka” hits its stride once the story reaches Africa - where Buckley, best known for his work on dozens of wicked-cool Super Bowl commercials, also shot his Oscar-nominated short “Asad” with Somali refugees. The film’s cocky, too-clever-by-half opening voiceover is designed to underscore how Jay’s wit is being wasted on a mindless job interviewing grocery store managers (“I actually hate movies with main characters as narrators,” he tells us).Īfter meeting a local journalism hero (played by Al Pacino with his usual scene-stealing gusto) in the doctor’s office waiting room, Jay decides to take the plunge, borrowing just enough money from mom (Melanie Griffith) to get him to Somalia. Russell’s Desert-Storm-gone-wild satire) and “Almost Famous” (Cameron Crowe’s autobiographical account of a wild gig he scored for Rolling Stone magazine as a teen), but it never quite charms us into identifying with its goofy, nothing-to-lose hero, who’s desperate to move out from his parents’ basement and jump-start his journalism career. “Dabka” wants to be a cross between “Three Kings” (David O.
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