| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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A Movie That Asks What's In A Namesake
by Eric (movies profile)
Sep 2, 2007
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
There is something powerful about a name that rubs off on that who is branded by it's moniker. For me, I was named after legendary guitarist Eric Clapton, something that I hold with some pride. Others aren't so luck (think about all those boys named Sue). The Namesake, based on a bestseller and directed by Mira Nair, explores how one man's name came to be and what he does with it.
The movie is about the Gangulis, an Indian family in New York headed by Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and his wife Ashima (Tabu). They have two kids, Sonia (Sahira Nair) and Gogol (Kal Penn). The movie is a straight narrative that starts off with Ashoke's doomed train ride where he is given the idea to travel to New York from India, to his marriage to his wife. They eventually have thier kids, with Gogol being the oldest and most important to the movie. Gogol grows up caught between the world he has known in America and traditions of India. His first major conflict between these two worlds comes when he decides to change his name to Nick. He was originally named after a Russian writer that was one of his father's favorites. But to Gogol, it represents that he isn't entirely American which bothers him greatly.
This leads him into a relationship with All-American girl Maxine (Jacinda Barrett), which his parents tolerate but aren't thrilled about (mostly because it seems he seems to want to spend more time with her family than his). When tragedy strikes again, it throws Gogol into a tail-spin between these two opposing forces once more and overcompensates by giving in entirely to his traditions, getting involved with Moushumi (Zuleikha Robinson), a woman his mother arranges that he meets.
The movie is incredly hypnotic visually, a Mira Nair trademark with wonderful color schemes and character set-ups. But the biggest problem with the movie is that it doesn't choose a protagonist. One might speculate that the entire Ganguli clan IS the protagonist, but that is incorrect. We barely meet Sonia, we never get to know more about her than a slip here or there. The movie focuses more on Ashima and Gogol, but since these two characters really never bond to each other, the narrative never seems to gel perfectly.
Then there's the fact that the narrative is uneven, which is strange since it runs as a straight beginning-to-end narrative. At certain places, too many things are occuring at the same time, then a long period of nothing happening. The movie should have chopped up the story and began on the middle crisis while flashing back to the back story, making the final act into a epilogue. This movie is a perfect example how editing can change the tone and feel of a story.
Kal Penn's performance as Gogol is very impressive since he's usually does frat-boy comedies such as Van Wilder or Harold and Kumar (which I am one of the many waiting for the sequel). But he allows this character to feel a natural confusion as to what he should do as a human being and not just as a second-generation immigrant. We understand his choices even if we disagree with him. But my favorite performances come from Irfan Kahn and Tabu, who are absolutely wonderful together. They stay away from stereotypes and bring out two people we can see falling in love with each other. Tabu's performance is even more interesting since she really brings out the loneliness of her life with a bravery that most actresses cannot find. In my opinion, she's the Indian equivilant of Meryll Streep, if only a little more graceful.
As for Mira Nair, I'm both happy and disappointed in her direction. Maybe because I know she's capable of making this movie a lot better than it is. While my biggest problem with the movie is editing, she also forgets the first rule of storytelling; always know who your protagonist is. At points we know who we are following, but others we do not. This confusion takes us out of the movie, which hampers the entire expirience.
All in all, you might not see my complaints, you might find it endearing and triumphant. And you would be right. It is good. But here's the question, would it be better if Nair and her editor Allyson Johnson would have made the changes I mentioned? Either way, I recommend this beautiful movie in the name of good cinema. |
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