Ed's Review Dot Com

The Weinstein Company, Screen Australia, See-Saw Films,

Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, Pallavi Sharda, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Eamon Farren, Priyanka Bose, Benjamin Rigby, Menik Gooneratne, Anna Samson, Arka Das, Deepti Naval

The year was 1986. A 5 year old boy, Saroo (Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel) is off on an adventure with his big brother, but becomes lost and alone. He climbs aboard an empty train to sleep, but is unaware the train is decommissioned and is being driven to Calcutta, thousands of miles away. When he finally escapes the train, he is all alone in a a new city where he can’t speak the language and has nowhere to go. Saroo’s life greatly changes, but as he matures, he can’t help wondering who he was and where he came from and he feels the need to find out based on the little bit he can remember.

Another Hidden Gem of a film that I love to find and bring to you. This is a true story, based on the book “A Long Way Home” by the real Saroo Brierley. This movie will touch you. It is an Australian Independent film, and is probably one of the movies you have never heard of. I found it streaming on Netflix and with the insistence of my daughter, I decided to watch it. To say that it had an effect on me is an understatement. This is one of those movies that will stay with me forever. This is such an awesome story, and the time and effort put into getting the right people to play each of the roles really shows. IMDB claims that 4000 boys were looked at to play 5 year old Saroo. The one that they ended up with, Sunny Pawar, though not an actor at all, was perfect in the role and did an absolutely amazing job. The fact that this is a real story and actually happened, makes it all the more impactful and really touches your heart. The fact that Saroo isn’t alone, and that thousands of children go missing in India every every year makes it more touching. Everyone in this film gave their heart to it, and it shows. IF you don’t have a Netflix account, the price of it is well worth it just for this film. Seriously, this is a great movie. I’m sure that fact that Weinstein Company owns the film is a concern to many people, but this movie is far too valuable to let that bother you. This is a story that needs to be told. Make sure to stick with it to the end, because if you don’t read the text at end, you can easily spend the rest of your life wondering why this movie is titled “Lion”. It also has some great clips of the real people from the film and well of real footage of a really special meeting in India at the end. This is one of the best stories I’ve seen in a long time, and one that I highly recommend for everyone. It is an amazing journey.

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Amasia Entertainment, Troika Pictures, Coup d’Etat Films,

Dev Patel, Robert Patrick, Kyra Sedgwick, Robert Sheehan, Zoë Kravitz

Vincent (Robert Sheehan) is a young man with Tourette’s syndrome who was close to his mother, who has passed away. His father, Robert (Robert Patrick) is running for office, so to avoid embarrassment, he packs Vincent off to a clinic run by unconventional Dr. Mia Rose (Kyra Sedgwick). But when Vincent meets and falls for a anorexic patient Marie (Zoe Kravitz) he kidnaps his room mate, Alex (Dev Patel) who has a germ phobia and major OCD, steals the Doctor’s car and heads out on a road trip to the ocean to scatter his Mom’s ashes. What follows is a rather hilarious dysfunctional road trip.

This was a surprising little film which features some great acting by three primary characters all of which have devastating disabilities, but who want to function normally. The director shows us these problems by developing the situations around that which makes them the most uncomfortable. There is a lot of humor here, but I feel they really showcased the talent of the actors and really developed in us an affinity to the characters that is remarkable. It was as if I could feel what it was like to have these problems along with the characters. The humor was refreshing, but there is also a lot of heart here as well. It is a touching film. In addition to the major three characters, the interaction between Dr. Rose and Vincent’s father is quite interesting as well, and even more substantial is the father-son relationship between Vincent and his father. All in all, this is an interesting film with a lot of interesting side stories, but with superior character development. I really enjoyed this.

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Blueprint Pictures,

Penelope Wilton, David Strathairn, Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel, Bill Nighy, Richard Gere

Time has passed since “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2011) and Sonny (Dev Patel) the young entrepreneurial owner and manager of the hotel has big plans. Engaged now, and planning to expand the hotel with a second property he heads out to the U.S. to talk with some hopeful business partners. They are sending a secret inspector to visit the hotel before they make their decision, so Sonny is going crazy trying to figure out who this inspector is and how to impress him. Meanwhile, the residents from before are still there and are partners in running the hotel, although they have many side issues going on, and everyone is very busy. This fitting sequel to the original brings back the familiar characters and adds a few more for good measure.

The original was certain a surprise hidden gem of a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and though I had never heard of it before, I was really impressed with the characters. Basically the first movie was about senior citizens from Britain who lost everything, and went to India answering an ad about this amazing retirement hotel which wasn’t exactly as promised. A lot of the humor of the first movie brought to our attention the problems with trying to settle in India and the issues that caused. We became very familiar with the characters in the original and got to know their quirks and character. This sequel is very different because now we are already familiar with the characters, so we don’t need to become acquainted with them in this film. Additionally, the issues with the hotel are already known to us, so we get to see how, in the years that followed, they made it better together. This is, however a good sequel with lots of activity going on to keep it interesting. We’re involved in Sonny’s wedding and the problems of trying to grow the enterprise and his problems in trying to do both at the same time. Additionally there are side stories going on with each of the characters that makes it quite worthwhile. There are some of the greatest actors of all times in this film and the quality of their acting abilities also adds to the wonderfulness of this movie. I would definitely recommend you watch the original 2011 film first to get really familiar with the characters, and then watch this right after when you’re still familiar with it. That way it’s a seamless transition and that would be one hell of a double feature. I believe the first film was the better of the two, but that may be mostly because of the newness and uniqueness of the many characters, but this one is darn near as good, and certainly feels a lot more comfortable with the relationship we already have with the characters. I highly recommend both films.

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Columbia Pictures, Media Rights Capital, LStar Capital,

Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Miranda Frigon

Engineer Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) is working for an outfit that makes and sells police and military robots. They’re looking for the next big thing, but Deon is working on making the robots more like humans, with feelings and emotions and the ability to learn. Unfortunately the company isn’t interested in that, and are looking for the next big killer robot. Deon trashes the robot, but decides to keep it himself and take it home to work on it in his spare time. Meanwhile, Chappie (Sharlto Copley) becomes aware, and runs across some two bit drug dealers who are in big trouble for owing a lot of money and see Chappie as a way to pull the big heist they’ve been planning. Chappie is caught in the middle between his maker and these thugs and then the action starts.

I was very anxious to see Chappie. I kind of wanted to see it in the theater, but didn’t make it, but I was delighted when I saw it coming out on DVD. In fact, my wife and I recently spent a week on Catalina Island and took the freshly arrived Chappie DVD with us to watch in the hotel. We got our snacks, turned up the air conditioner and sat down to watch this movie finally. Boy was I disappointed. Now, I certainly expected it to be a rip-off of the “Short Circuit” series. “Number Five is alive.” But I really enjoyed those movies despite Steve Guttenberg. And I was frequently reminded of that throughout, but that didn’t bother me. This was also a blatant rip off of all the “Robocop” films too, which didn’t bother me. But still I was deeply disappointed while watching it. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was very low budget looking. The acting was pretty bad, perhaps Dev Patel excepted and Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver were only here for window dressing. Their parts added nothing of value to the film. Furthermore, the storyline wasn’t very good. If anything it was childish and mostly silly. This concept had so much potential. So what was wrong with it. Well, after coming back from the island and doing some research about the movie, I found it was from the same guys who made “District 9”. Now “District 9” was a sci-fi adventure and loved by a lot of people, but I wasn’t impressed with it for the same reasons. It felt like it wasn’t Hollywood material. In fact, Chappie gave me the same feeling “District 9” did. Chappie was filmed in South Africa. I got the feeling I was watching a student film for a college assignment. It was very JV and not very well done. The cinematography was pretty good and the sets and locations were alright, but the script and the performances were juvenile. But the worst part of all was the patched together ending. It was simply awful. This ending turned the whole scientific feel of the film, which wasn’t that bad, and turned it into an extremely childish fairytale ending. I felt really cheated by the ending. It was simply horrible. All in all, I expected a great experience and for me it was a dud. I wish I had left this one alone. I tend to do my research on a film after I’ve seen it, so as not to go in with a lot of preconceived ideas, but in this case, if I had known how disappointing it was, I would probably have skipped it. Well, maybe not, but I would suggest a Short Circuit/Robocop double feature and leave this one alone!

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Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Blueprint Pictures,

Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Tom Wilkinson, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Dev Patel, Tena Desae, Sid Makkar

A variety of elder British subjects are finding it hard to survive. They all have different problems, different issues, but they all are trying to get by on a meager budget. An brochure shows up of an Indian palace for only elderly people where for a small amount you can stay and enjoy paradise. As they arrive, the harsh reality of how it really is. But the young manager, trying to make the best of his investment, despite the contemptuous way his high class mother treats him. This is the adventure of a bunch of folks trying to get by and making the best of their situation.

This was a charming film. It’s an ensemble piece, and there are many stories going on at the same time. Most of them are very interesting, and the pace is slow and relaxing, and the character development is meticulously done. There are a lot of stars here, but none of them steal the show. It’s the entire cast together that makes it very interesting. The relationship of the hotel manager and his fiance who his mother despises goes through a lot and plays a major part of the story, but it is well done. Each of the stories gets it’s fair share, and all in all, when the fairly long film ends (it’s over 2 hours) it’s very fulfilling. There are hilarious moments, but mature humor, not the high school potty humor of most films today. This is probably not a film that younger folks are going to enjoy. But those of us in the sunset of our lives will identify with the problems these folks have. It’s very British, but here in the U.S. if things go like they are going, we’re headed for many of the same issues, where older folks will not be able to afford to live, and, like one of the characters who needs hip surgery, places like India will make up for the months and months of waiting for a chance to have a procedure like that done under socialized medicine. There is a monologue Sonny (Dev Patel) makes about the idea of outsourcing old people (we’ll take what these countries don’t want) to India, and it sounds reasonable. This may be the next stop for India, taking our social security checks in return for a life of curry and rice. Hey, anything can happen.

All in all, I was pleased with this film. The cinematography was brilliantly done, giving us the feel of India like as if we’ve actually been there. The story is very good, slow developing, but rich in character and charm, and the acting is superb. If you feel up for a brilliantly done dramatic film, this is a good choice. I really enjoyed it.

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