Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Movie Review – Lion
I’m so happy that there is finally a good selection of movies out that I am interested in. I have really missed going to the theater and am glad to be going so often, so far this year, and actually have a list of movies I hope to see when I can as they come out! 🙂
Today, I went to see Lion with a friend. This is the true story set in India and Australia of a small boy who gets separated from his older brother and ends up on a train that takes him far from his small village in India across the country to Calcutta. At just five years old, he suddenly finds himself alone in a part of the country that speaks a different language and too young to identify himself, his mother, or his home to the authorities. He struggles to survive with many other unfortunate street children all fending for themselves. He goes through horrifying situations no five year old should endure and narrowly escapes unspeakable dangers until he is placed in an orphanage and adopted by a loving family in Australia. In later years, he is haunted by memories of his mother and brother and becomes determined to find them with very little to go on.
Dev Patel brilliantly portrays the adult Saroo Brierley – Dev definitely provides some awesome eye candy 🙂 , but he also gives a heartfelt performance that conveys the torment Saroo feels as he searches for his birth family. Sunny Pawar is simply adorable as the young Saroo and does an incredible job playing the terrified, lost child trying to survive alone in strange surroundings. David Wenham and Nicole Kidman play John and Sue Brierley – Saroo’s adoptive parents.
It was an excellent story and very good acting. However, there is a long period in the beginning up until Saroo’s adoption that is spoken all in Hindi with subtitles – personally, I really hate having to read the dialog while trying to watch the scenes, but I do understand that it was necessary in this case, so I am willing to not let it impact my over all review rating. Also, there is a long stretch in the middle that becomes very slow and boring – I had to fight to keep from falling asleep a couple of times. I am really disappointed that this concern DID put a damper on the movie as a whole, for me……the emotional beginning and ending, the acting, and the excellent story itself were so good, but, in this case, I just can’t say that they overcame the frustration of a boring middle – I think it just took up too much of the movie. So, I rate this one a 3.75 out of 5Â – I struggled with whether to push it to a 4, but in the end, decided on the 3.75. I really am glad I went to see it and did, for the most part, like it…..just wish I had waited to stream it for free and not paid to see it – even at matinee prices. Of course – as always, this is just my never to be humble opinion…..yours may differ!
OH – and, if you do go see it, be sure to read the follow up information they post at the end of the movie……it explains some things and gives some additional insight into Saroo and his birth family.
Here is the trailer for those who wish to know more about the story:
Kim's Thoughts 
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