Mahmud Nasir (Omid Djalili) is not dissimilar to many middle-aged Muslim minicab drivers in London: he observes his faith (to an extent), he drinks (a bit) and he gets angry with his black taxi-driving rivals. But upon clearing out his dead mother's house, he finds his birth certificate, and realises his whole life - or at least the one he tries his best to lead - is a lie. He was actually born Jewish and named Solly Shimshillewitz. Torn between two faiths, he enlists a black cabbie rival to help him 'learn to be Jewish', putting his son's engagement to the stepdaughter of an extremist Muslim cleric in severe jeopardy in the process.

This David Baddiel-scripted film (Directed by Josh Appignanesi) features many of the usual bit-part British comic actors and lots of very Baddiel jokes, only a few of which (such as a recurring motif about how annoying it is when people do 'air quotes') feel fresher than a bunch of Mary Whitehouse Experience outtakes rewritten for grown-ups.

Aside from the moments when it seems like North-East London's below-par answer to a Woody Allen movie, The Infidel tackles an ambitious and sensitive subject in an impressively balanced manner, yet without ever managing to feel like it needs to exist.

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