Hotel Mumbai

Starring: Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Jason Isaacs, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Suhail Nayyar, Nagesh Bhosle, Natasha Liu Bordizzo
Directed by: Anthony Maras
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Based on the true story of a terrorist attack at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai.

Review:

Tim: It's a shame that movies like this need to exist outside of the realm of the fictional. Unfortunately, we live in challenging times, so movies like Hotel Mumbai need to exist. Like most similar movies, this is an important film for us to better understand the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The move is meant to entertain and to be a thrilling experience, but it also helps educate the audience. I remember the real-life events, but being an American, I didn't feel the same immediacy of impact that I might have felt had this happened in our country. I appreciated the insights into the objectives of the terrorists, as well as the lengths the hotel staff went to in order to protect their guests. I thought this was an effective movie that achieved its objectives. It doesn't quite hit enough emotional chords to be a truly great movie, but this is nothing less than a success and movie that's well worth seeing.

At this point, we've seen numerous movies based on true events related to terrorist attacks. There's a certain responsibility this movies have- to depict the events somewhat realistically, while entertaining the audience with a good story, but also educating that audience and condemning terrorism as well. We have enough of these movies for a clear blueprint toward success to exist. Hotel Mumbai follows that blueprint and that's not necessarily a bad thing. This isn't the kind of movie that is determined to innovate, to show us something we haven't seen before. It's a fairly straightforward explanation of the events in 2008. That's probably all this movie could be and I don't fault it for following this path. The critical thing is to execute well, which it does.

I like how the movie really focused on the human element of this story. It's a character-driven piece that highlights the plight of these innocent victims of terrorism as they fight for survival in the hotel. I loved the casting of Dev Patel. He always feels like an authentic actor and he brings that quality to this film. He's definitely a standout in this movie. Armie Hammer was a great addition, too. He is careful to portray his character as a real-life human, not an action movie hero. I thought he did a good job inhabiting this role and making us care about him while we believed his performance. Jason Isaacs got a bit of a flashy role, but he doesn't make a huge impact outside of a few nice moments. Nazanin Boniadi did some nice work as well. The supporting cast is extensive and they generally work really well. I really appreciated the international and diverse cast (as you would expect) and they played their roles well. The cast might not have a lot of flashy stars, but it's a very talented cast from top to bottom.

The movie did a good job in both depicting the Taj Hotel and the worldviews of its workers. It was fascinating to watch a place that stresses the "Guest is God" and how that influences the actions of the staff when the terrorists arrive. The movie does a good job of portraying the terrorists as well, helping us to understand their motivations while simultaneously being clear that their misguided, evil actions were abhorrent. There's also a good explanation of the police force and while it took an eternity to mount a defense of the hotel. I had no idea about all that when the event occurred and it was fascinating to understand that aspect of the film. There's a lot to unpack in this movie. It felt like the run time of 2 hours, 3 minutes was appropriate. It's a tightly constructed movie so it never feels overly long- it's intense and there are many nerve-racking moments throughout. There's a number of surprising events, too. That made the movie feel anything but predictable.

Hotel Mumbai might not have a ton to say that we haven't heard before, but I appreciated this movie very much. It adds another voice to the arts narrative that terrorism is evil and it needs to stop. By seeing innocent people caught up in an extraordinary situation- and seeing many of them lose their lives- reminds us that this is a battle we must continue to wage. Americans rightly feel injustice at how we were attacked by terrorists, but this movie reminds us that it's a worldwide scourge. That was an important differentiator. This movie is well-executed and it tells a powerful, thrilling story. It's a movie I would highly recommend.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The 15:17 to Paris, No Escape, Surviving Mumbai