MOVIES Omar Sharif remains regal in two upcoming roles
Sharif's Muslim shopkeeper befriends a Jewish boy in 'Monsieur Ibrahim.'
WASHINGTON POST
The brown-eyed handsome man is back. And like wine, he's improved with time.
In fact, Omar Sharif, who made such an impact in the 1960s in such films as "Lawrence of Arabia," "Doctor Zhivago" and "Funny Girl," never really left. Although he's taken a few years off here and there, essentially he's worked in television and films ever since. But with two movies opening March 15, the Egyptian actor (who turns 72 this year) seems to be enjoying a higher profile.
In the French film "Monsieur Ibrahim," he's a Turkish shopkeeper who works in a Jewish section of Paris, where he befriends a young Jewish boy. And in "Hidalgo," a Disney film set in the late 19th century, he's a wealthy sheik who invites a renegade cowboy (Viggo Mortensen) to participate in a 3,000-mile survival race across the Arabian Desert.
Both movies get a boost from his presence. And in both cases, he's the main reason to see them. Call it the Omar mystique. Although age has made him a little more wizened these days and, yes, an orthodontist could do those wide-spaced teeth a world of good, he's still devilishly handsome. And the eyes are still a hypnotic, shimmering brown.
More importantly, his acting instincts seem more relaxed and assured than ever.
Crossing cultures
As the title character in "Monsieur Ibrahim," Sharif picks up on the loneliness of Momo (Pierre Boulanger), a shoplifter who's semiconsciously seeking a father figure. Little by little, Ibrahim teaches this boy the compassion and wisdom of the Koran, and a bond is forged forever.
It's not just a fine acting performance from Sharif; it's a warm and fuzzy political telegram, and it faintly echoes another such highlight in Sharif's career. When he played husband to (and kissed) Barbra Streisand's Fanny Brice in the 1968 "Funny Girl," it was in the wake of the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt. It was the kiss seen around the world.
(It's clear that Sharif's cross-cultural sentiments don't just end on the screen. His son, who has previously married a Jew and a Catholic and is currently wed to a Muslim, has given Sharif a Jewish grandson and a Muslim one.)
In the Disney film, which is centered on the race, Sharif may be just a supporting character, but he's by far the most interesting presence in the movie. And when the sheik welcomes American visitor Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen) into his desert tent, there are haunting echoes of "Lawrence of Arabia," the film that introduced Sharif to the world. Once again, Sharif is Arab royalty, and once again, he makes the other characters -- no matter how high they are on the marquee -- fade into the background.