The Review of "Lion" (Movie)
Summary of the Movie
This movie came out in 2016, and I only recently watched it for the first time.
This movie is based on the book by Saroo Brierley, which is about his story, his life. The movie begins in 1986, when Saroo is five. He lives with his brother, sister and mother in India. One day, he leaves with his brother Guddu, who is going to go work. However, they get separated at a train station. Saroo falls asleep on a train, which brings him thousands of kilometres away from home and his family.
After arriving in Calcutta and living on the streets for a while, he does end up in an orphanage, before getting adopted by a couple in Tasmania. He is adopted by Sue and John Brierley.
Twenty years later, as an adult, Saroo goes to study hotel management in Melbourne. During a meal with some friends, they begin talking about Indian customs and such. It is during this meal that Saroo begins wanting to know where he comes from and wanting to find his biological family. And his search for his biological family begins.
Cast
The movie was directed by Garth Davis. The screenplay was written by Luke Davis and based on the book "A Long Way Home" by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose.
Dev Patel plays Saroo Brierley as an adult, while Sunny Pawar plays Saroo as a five-year. Rooney Mara plays Lucy, Saroo's girlfriend. Nicole Kidman plays Sue Brierley. David Wenthan plays John Brierley.
Review
It was sad and heartbreaking to see Saroo being separated from his family, and even to see that other children were separated from theirs as well. To see children living on the streets was just so sad. As a parent myself, that was hard to see. I can't even begin to imagine how Saroo's biological mother must have felt being separated from him. It's sad to think that so many kids disappear in India and get separated from their families.
I found the cast was just perfect for this film. They worked well together and just were amazing in their roles.
I found that the movie was fast paced, which I felt worked in a way, but not quite. I felt that it worked in the sense that there was always something happening. Nothing really dragged the story. I didn't feel that there was anything that wasn't beneficial and needed to the story. However, because it was fast paced, I felt that it made it a little challenging to really connect to the characters and such. It might have been nice if it had slowed down a little, so we could connect with the characters and get to know them a little more.
However, I do understand that the whole story might be more about Saroo's separation from his family as a child and his search for them as an adult. That's really more the whole focus and the main purpose of this story.
Conclusion
Overall, I did enjoy it. I only watched it once so far, but I will certainly be watching it again. It will be worth watching again, for me. It was certainly worth watching the first time. I would certainly recommend this movie, especially to those who do enjoy watching biographical movies.
© 2020 Dominique Cantin-Meaney