- Film Review
- Reviewed By Sue Heal
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5 out of 5
This seminal 1980s movie launched a plethora of now distinguished careers, including those of director Stephen Frears and Daniel Day-Lewis. The latter shines in his first major role as the scabrous punk and friend to Gordon Warnecke's entrepreneurial Asian, who dreams of creating the most glittering laundrette in London. This marvellously played movie's undoubted importance lies in the way it takes the key characteristics of the Thatcherite decade - grafting in the free market, the desire for material acquisitions, the establishment of stability - and turns everything on its head with a merciful lack of polemic.
Plot Summary
An Asian teenager joins forces with a former National Front member to open a trendy laundrette, but as the project develops, so does the boys' relationship - leading to mixed feelings and racial tension. Stephen Frears' comedy drama, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke and Saeed Jaffrey. Written by Hanif Kureishi.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Johnny
- Daniel Day-Lewis
- Omar
- Gordon Warnecke
- Nasser
- Saeed Jaffrey
- Papa
- Roshan Seth
- Salim
- Derrick Branche
- Rachel
- Shirley Anne Field
- Tania
- Rita Wolf
- Cherry
- Souad Faress
- Ghengis
- Richard Graham (2)
- Jamaican
- Winston Graham (2)
- Jamaican
- Dudley Thomas
- Squatter
- Garry Cooper
Crew
- Director
- Stephen Frears
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