Review of 7 Kocali Hürmüz

"Seven Husbands for Hurmuz" tells the story of an alluring woman, Hurmuz (Nurgül Yeşilçay) who is living in Taşkasap, Istanbul. She is unofficially married to six guys of different occupations each of whom she hosts on different days of the week. By refusing them the nuptial bliss in her bed, she shanghais them into giving her expensive presents to live on easy terms. One day ,Hurmuz happens to see the local doctor Hüsrev (Mehmet Ali Alabora) while she is at the barbershop of one of her husbands. On feigning illness, she asks for the doctor. When the doctor falls in love with her too, he wants her mother to ask for the hand of Hurmuz. At a night on which all the husbands will get together by fluke, Hurmuz and her confidante Safinaz (Gülse Birsel) will find themselves in a chaos. Ezey Akay likes to treat traditional Turkish folk characters in his movies. He has done it many times like he has treated Hacivat and Karagoz in his own way. When you watch a movie by him you know that he has re-created the setting in his own. I mean, let's say you are watching Hacivat and Karagoz somehow you will notice that 13th century Ottomans would not be that way. In this one you see the same thing. In an Ottoman Istanbul where law is taken care of by a qadi (chief judge) the women would never be like that. Even if you are conscious of this fact you can still have fun with Ezel Akay movies--with all the clever dialogs, with all the visual pageantry beautiful costumes offer,subtle humor etc..But this one lacks some "je ne sais pas". The humor is not subtle. You could even say it's dry and deadpan. It would serve right if they did laughter voice-overs. Even if it's a story you may know well, there is nothing you may be surprised or find intriguing. Moreover, a movie with a star-studded cast should have included better and more refined dialogs. Imagine a movie which you fill half of it with the stutters of a barber which lead only to risqué jokes. All in all, if you expect this movie should be any good because of the name "Ezel Akay" then it will turn out to be a total damp squib for you!