Middle Eastern view from America

TOWELHEAD is based on a novel by Alicia Erian and deals with the problems of the Middle East but in an entirely American setting.

Actor Toni Collette in scene from Towelhead

Towelhead (MA15+) 3½ stars Limited release TOWELHEAD is based on a novel by Alicia Erian and deals with the problems of the Middle East but in an entirely American setting.

The central character is Jasira (Summer Bishil), the 13-year-old daughter of an American mother and a Lebanese father. Her parents are separated and when the new boyfriend of her mother (Maria Bello) shows far too much interest in the pubescent girl, she's shipped off to live with her father, Rifat (Peter Macdissi), in Texas.

Rifat works for NASA and is a mass of contradictions: he hates Saddam Hussein (the film is set at the time of the first Gulf war) but equally he hates the US for invading an Arab country.

The film embraces many controversial elements, including racism (hence the title), but it's mostly concerned with the increasingly precocious Jasira's sexuality and her involvement with a neighbour (Aaron Eckhart), an army reservist who can hardly keep his hands off her. Writer-director Alan Ball has a distinguished CV; he wrote American Beauty and is the director of the television series Six Feet Under.

His handling of Towelhead is unusual: he encourages the actors to behave in an exaggerated style that is intriguing as well as frustrating.

As a result, performances are all over the place, though Bishil is startlingly good as the girl at the centre of some very disturbing activities. This is definitely not a film for everyone, but underlying its sensationalist surface is a serious study of racial conformity and American insularity.