Tom Hanks plays an IT guy who goes to Saudi Arabia to try to sell an insanely-expensive holographic conference calling system to the king. Culture clash. The Saudis keep putting him off, Hanks and his team are kept in a substandard tent, the guy he's supposed to meet with keeps being unavailable, the Saudi king doesn't appear when he's supposed to.... Meanwhile he can't get a cold beer in the desert.
The movie kept surprising me. Just when I thought it was going to descend into Arab-bashing it showed off some of the really laudable aspects of their culture. Just when I thought Hanks was going to fold up and go home, he pushed through and got an audience with his contact. When I thought Hanks was going to go after the Danish woman who was pursuing him, he backed off. Unpredictable.
Meanwhile, Hanks is learning about the people, learning about the culture, and getting better at dealing with situations. I won't give away more of the plot than that, except in the end he decides to stay in Saudi Arabia.
Overall, a very entertaining movie, lots of humor, good spirit, showed respect for peoples' differences.
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