Who needs critics? Muslims and Jews adored The Infidel - The Jewish Chronicle

With £140,000 in ticket sales and its screenings doubled in its first weekend, the story of the Muslim who turns out to be a Jew has certainly won an audience. David Baddiel's comedy, The Infidel, stars Iranian-born comic Omid Djalili as a British Muslim mini-cab driver who discovers he is adopted and that his birth name was Solly Shimsillewitz.

One Muslim cinema-goer, Yasmeen Khan, from Islington, compared the film, which took £1 million to make, to Marmite. "You either love it or hate it," she said. "There were some really good gags and the ones about faith made me laugh because of a sense of recognition. I don't think there were any jokes that poked fun at religion - it was more the culture.

"I did think: 'Phew - there's a normal Muslim family. At last something where there weren't images of what people think with extreme characters.'"

Fellow Muslim Salman Siddiqui, a 30-year-old analyst from Ealing said: "You don't often see much Muslim comedy so I found it refreshing and brave. I don't think it made fun of the religion, more quirky individuals and extremists which most people would agree are fair game. I also don't think there was anything in there that looks badly on Jews in any way."

The appreciation of the humour appears to be shared across the faiths. Ruth Grace, a 50-year-old synagogue secretary from Glasgow, said: "I went to see The Infidel with my friend and my 18-year-old daughter. We will need to go again to hear the lines we missed from laughing so loud and hard.

"We were probably the only Jewish people in the cinema, 99 per cent were Muslim. Everyone was laughing at all the jokes. I wasn't offended at any of it as I know it was written by a Jewish man and we are blessed with the ability to laugh at ourselves. I loved everything about it, the acting, the script and the cast."

Debbie Rees, 41, from Hatch End, north-west London, agreed, saying: "I thought it was fantastic. The way David Baddiel's comedy deals with such a sensitive topic is very clever. I am not sure that everyone who sees it gets the subtle message but what he is trying to say is that while there may be hatred between the two religions, really they are very similar. He has taken on a topic that people in general haven't had the courage to deal with before - good on him."

Georgina Bednar, 28, from Brixton, took a group of Muslim and Jews from interfaith arts group MUJU to a screening last weekend. The group had been approached by the film company to give responses to the script and provide extras. Bednar, who is Jewish, said: "I loved the script and particularly the interfaith comedy thing. I thought it was funny and I really enjoyed the characters. I thought it would be even more controversial but then it needed to reach as many people as possible and be inclusive too. People of both faiths can see characters they know and there is a lot to laugh at. I didn't find it offensive at all - I think it could lead to lots of conversations about its themes."

But 24-year-old civil servant Rafi Addlestone from Hendon found that the film "lacked credibility". He said: "There is lot that's good about The Infidel - a few cracking one liners, cute performances and a thoughtful message promoting tolerance and strong individual identity. It creatively presents 'moderate' Jews and Muslims positively, if not accurately.

"However, it is ruined by a poor script and a contrived plot that lacks any credibility. The gritty, colourless setting jars with the cheesy dialogue. Jokes get increasingly desperate. Characters become ever more cartoonish. It's a shame because I respect David Baddiel as probably our best representative celeb Jew, but this effort suffered from his lack of scriptwriting experience. The Infidel is not a film that is bad for the Jews, just a little bad for one of us."

Arsalan Obaidullah, a 30-year-old Muslim equity analyst from Mill Hill, said: "While the underlying premise seemed very interesting, on the whole I thought the final product was not very good. I thought the overall story didn't really come together, the characters were not very convincing at all, and it generally had this 'low budget' feel about it. I thought the acting was weak, in particular I didn't find Omid as the main character very convincing as a Pakistani taxi driver.

"Naturally there were a few funny scenes but it seemed to be like a rapidly put together sketch show and didn't seem like a complete film. Of course full credit for trying to explore such an interesting idea but a shame it came together so poorly."

Nicole Peppi, a 33-year old from Hendon who works for Jewish Care, said: "I didn't laugh that much. It was a bit cringe-worthy, some of the Jewish jokes in particular. I don't think it was a good portrayal of Jewish people. Matt Lucas looked more like a vicar than a rabbi. I didn't like it that he burned a kippah and was quite offended by that, especially because David Baddiel is Jewish and he should have tried to bring people together rather than set them apart."

To get more from Life, click here to sign up for our free Life newsletter.