The Personal History of David Copperfield

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020)

Starring Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, Peter Capaldi, Aneurin Barnard, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rosalind Eleazer, Morfydd Clark, Darren Boyd, Daisy May Cooper, Paul Whitehouse, Ranveer Jaiswell, Gwendoline Christie, and Ben Whishaw

Directed by Armando Iannucci

Written by Simon Blackwell and Armando Iannucci

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Movie Review - Lion

Lion (2016)

Starring Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, Abhishek Bharate, Priyanka Bose, Divian Ladwa, and Rooney Mara

Directed by Garth Davis

Five year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) and his older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) do all that they can to help out their struggling mother Kamla (Priyanka Bose) who herself works a laborious job in a small town in India.  One evening, the two brothers take a bike ride followed by a train ride to seek out a new job prospect.  Upon arriving at the train station, Guddu tells a sleepy Saroo to wait for him on a bench in the train station while he goes to find out about the job, but Guddu doesn't return.  A saddened Saroo falls asleep in an empty train car, only to wake up and find the train moving.  1600 kilometers and days later, five year-old Saroo arrives in Calcutta with no money and no real concept of where he lives.  After a series of treacherous events, young Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham) who give the boy a proper home in their country.  Twenty years later, an adult Saroo (now played by Dev Patel) begins attending college where his fellow students including his girlfriend Lucy (Rooney Mara) spur him on to try and find his place of birth and his biological mother.

Lion tells the true story above in an admittedly generic way, but one that is well acted and solidly lensed by first time director Garth Davis.  Split into almost even and equal parts across the two hour film, both aspects of Saroo's life -- his childhood and young adult years -- feel surprisingly fully realized with neither one getting the short shrift.  Fortunately, both actors playing Saroo are captivating, holding our attention throughout their halves of the film.  

Young Sunny Pawar makes his debut here and his wide-eyed innocence and genuine love for his family is perfectly conveyed at the film's outset which makes it all the more heartbreaking when he is essentially orphaned and forced to realize the horrors outside the walls of his admittedly run-down home.  The chaos of India with its hordes of people would certainly frighten this blogger so I can't imagine how it must've been for Saroo, but Pawar vividly emotes the fear and also the continuing hope that he will be able to return home someday.

Dev Patel is giving his best performance by far here.  His Saroo also begins with a wide-eyed innocence and genuine love for his Australian family at his character's outset.  The genuine appreciation for his adopted parents is evident as he is well aware that he has been afforded a wonderful life for the past twenty years.  Upon entering college and meeting some other students from India, however, memories begin to flood back into his mind from decades ago and Patel does a fantastic job showcasing his character's guilt for being chosen to leave India and for leaving behind his family as well as for even contemplating the notion of beginning a search for his biological mother and the pain that could cause his adoptive mother Sue.

Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara are nice additions to the mix as well although both roles are only truly in service to both iterations of Saroo who is the sole focus of the film.  While Lion never gets preachy in its message about home and family, it is admittedly a bit overly sentimental sometimes.  That's never usually a downfall for this reviewer and that holds true here, but I could see how some may be turned off by the uplifting nature of the piece.  Overall, Lion is a bit generic -- nothing reinvents the wheel here -- but it still delivers a beautiful true story that tugs at the heartstrings every now and then.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

Starring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, and Dev Patel

Directed by John Madden

Old people say the darndest things!  Sometimes they poke fun at the youth.  Sometimes they discuss their sex life for yucks.  And then there's always the humorous racist ones who've never moved out of the dark ages.  And each of these types of elderly folks has taken up residence at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India.  Join them for two hours peppered with moments of laughs, but very little story or substance.  But if Viagra is on your (or your significant other's) bedside table, this may be just the movie for you!

There are some great performances here from very talented British folks.  Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, and Billy Nighy are just a few of the notable long in the tooth stars on display and they all attempt to make director John Madden's film as watchable as possible.  Those three celebrities and several others take on the roles of aging British citizens who, in their old age, decide to travel to India either wanting a change in atmosphere or for monetary reasons or for seeking discounted medical help.  They all settled on staying at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel run by the young Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) thanks to the establishment's lovely brochure promoting luxury accommodations for the elderly, but upon their arrival they realize Sonny may have misrepresented his rundown complex.  Still, as the group settles in, they realize that India has so much to offer that it my even turn the most racist of people (Maggie Smith in a one-note role) into the most magnanimous by film's end.

The film's problem is that it's entirely too simplistic.  We are well aware of where all these folks' stories are going to end up from the very beginning (with the exception of Wilkinson's character who, although he goes through a rather touching story arc, felt oddly out of place with the rest of the film's overall tone).  There's no depth here and that would be fine if the film didn't attempt to strive for deep meaning.  Whimsicality is perfectly acceptable...they just should've gone for that here rather than trying for something more.

Then again, I don't really think The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was made for me.  Were I forty years older and heading into my seventies, I might have gone gaga over it, but I have not reached the milestone of needing to wear Depends so I'm not the film's demographic.  Yes, I realize that there's flippancy in that last statement, but I really mean no disrespect to the film's audience.  There are people who will love this movie and it's great that the filmmakers behind this decided to (successfully...at least from a box office standpoint) appeal to an under-represented audience.  But perhaps because I wouldn't be allowed to check in to the Marigold Hotel, this one just didn't prove successful for me.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review -- Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

starring Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, and Freida Pinto

directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)

screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

I can't deny that expectations for this one were high.  With a co-worker telling me it was the best movie he had seen in three years, I couldn't help but think that I was going to be watching something special.

Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of young Jamal Malik who, as the film opens, is being tortured in an Indian jail.  Believed to have cheated while a contestant on India's version of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire," Jamal gradually tells his life story to a police interrogator in hopes of proving that he genuinely knew the answers to the game show.

The joy of the film, for me anyway, was in the direction.  I'm a big fan of British director Danny Boyle even though I haven't seen the film that gave him his big break -- Trainspotting.  Despite (and I'm sure because of) quick cuts and the significant use of flashbacks, Boyle creates a beautiful looking movie...stylistically anyway.  A.R. Rahman's score is superb, and I found that it was probably the biggest key in pulling me into this Indian slum world.

Unfortunately, the film just didn't click with me until the final reel, and even then, it kind of left me a little cold.  I will say that this film still has me thinking about it to this day (I saw it over a week ago), but I find myself wavering in terms of how much I liked or disliked it.  The storyline dealing with Jamal's slimier brother is what I keep coming back to...I didn't really enjoy where that story went, and I found myself not caring at all about this substantial section of the film.  Plus, during Jamal's search for his childhood sweetheart, everything seems too coincidental (and, thus, unbelievable) leading up to their initial reunion (no spoiler there, really...I promise).

All that said, the tone that Boyle set for the film was perfect and his work alone knocks the film up a notch or two.  However, I can't understand why this film is winning everything in its path this awards season.  Was there really no better film? (I know the answer to that...and these better films will be reviewed in upcoming posts.)

The RyMickey Rating:  B