Good idea, mediocre presentation. That sums up Sherry Horman’s “Desert Flower,” which tackles the practice of female genital mutilation in parts of Africa.
Based on the story of Waris Dirie, a real-life African supermodel, the glossy film tells of how, as a girl in rural Somalia, she underwent the dangerous and painful surgery at age 3.
At 13, she’s sold into marriage with a rich geezer. Rather than accept her fate, she runs off and eventually finds her way to London.
There, in an improbable series of events, she’s befriended by department-store clerk Marylin (Sally Hawkins) and takes a job mopping floors at a fast-food joint, where she’s discovered by a famous fashion photographer (Timothy Spall).
Next thing we know, she’s on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue and addressing the UN on the evils of female circumcision.
The story goes from comedy to melodrama and back again several times as Horman unwittingly trivializes a serious matter.
On the plus side, Ethiopian-born model Liya Kebede gives a sensitive performance as the grown Waris, while Juliet Stevenson steals her every scene as a blustery modeling agent.
Still, “Desert Flower” suffers from a lack of focus and a sitcom script.