Lion

Starring: Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman, Sunny Pawar, Abhishek Bharate, Priyanka Bose, David Wenham
Directed by: Garth Davis
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A small Indian boy is separated from his family, eventually being adopted by a family in Australia. A quarter century later, he sets out to find his birth family.

Review:

Tim: Lion is a beautiful, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction movie. It's exceptionally well made, tells a memorable, powerful story, and is all together a very, very good film. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and while it got shut out in every category, this still still a worthwhile, effective movie.

The story is profound, especially in the early scenes. A five year old boy in India accidentally get separated from his family and ends up on a train that takes him thousands of kilometers from his family. Technology was still in its early days, and so rather than quickly being reunited with his family, he's lost to them. These scenes were heartbreaking, especially to anyone who is a parent. They were hard to watch, but extremely well told. It was fascinating to watch what happened to this little boy. The film then jumps 25 years and we find that little boy, who begins a difficult search for his family. This is a powerful film about family, resilience, about needing to know where you came from. It explores many different issues, including cultural ones. There's a lot packaged into this sub-2-hour film.

The cast is really good. Dev Patel is still coming into his own as an actor, but it was nice to see he was nominated for an Academy Award (how he was deemed a Supporting Actor is besides me, as he's clearly the lead). Still, I hope this recognition encourages him. He needs to continue to hone his craft, because he has so much potential. It was also nice to see Nicole Kidman receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. It has been 6 years since her last nomination and the first as Supporting. It was a reminder that she's a really talented actress. Rooney Mara was solid, as well as the rest of the supporting cast.

While there's a lot to say positively about this movie, I struggled a bit with it. I really, really enjoyed it, but I think it just missed out on greatness. Why, you ask? That's a little tricky. I was totally engrossed in the movie in the early scenes- of this innocent boy who finds himself thousands of kilometers from home. Those scenes were incredible. The ending is also quite amazing as well. I loved the conclusion of this film (more on that later). The problem for me is some of the scenes in the middle. We're introduced to Patel and we see him go on this search for his family. Those scenes were some of the least compelling of the film. He's dealing with a great deal of pain and I was continually perplexed by his actions, especially his interactions with those around him. I don't feel like his motivations were fully explained. I wanted to feel what he felt, to understand why he did what he did. That doesn't fully translate. Most of this is due to the director, but some to Patel's performance. There were many scenes, when he becomes alienated from those around him, that I didn't fully appreciate or understand. What drove him to take the actions he took? The movie needed to explore this in greater detail. I questioned this character's motives and behavior and it bogged the movie down. This is a film that's incredible in the beginning and end, but the middle is simply less effective.

I did think the ending was beautiful, shocking, and memorable. The conclusion to a film like this is even more important than a regular movie (because everything is about the end of this character's journey). Director Garth Davis handles this wonderfully.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lion, so I was bummed that I didn't quite think it was a great film and that it just missed out on my top 10 of 2016 list. That doesn't take anything away from this really effective movie. I'd highly, highly recommend this movie to anyone.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5


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