Beautiful scenery, costumes, and atmosphere. Well-acted by the actors playing the two parents. Kal Penn played the American part of the Indian-American role convincingly, but did not sell me on his transformation in the later part of the film. The...
- 23.September.2010
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- by: rylathro
- rylathro rated this movie
 0/10
Beautiful scenery, costumes, and atmosphere. Well-acted by the actors playing the two parents. Kal Penn played the American part of the Indian-American role convincingly, but did not sell me on his transformation in the later part of the film. The movie seemed more about the parents than the kid. Part of that was probably due to the weak writing around that crucial part of the film. The writing was solid for the first half of the film (about the parents), but meandered and flagged in the second half. There wasn't enough of a build-up to explain why the key pivotal event suddenly changed the supposed protagonist to the extent that it did. The meandering of the storylines at the end left me wondering what the point of the film was. Often in one scene the film would suggest that traditions are not valued enough, but then in another scene suggest that traditions were valued too much. It seemed like no matter what the characters did in the second half of the movie, it would be the wrong thing to do. Was that the point the movie was trying to make? If not, the directions their lives took were pretty random and did not really serve any purpose for the audience.
That may be realistic in real life, but I don't like films like these, that make me feel as though I am just watching a bunch of random events in some people's lives.
- 23.September.2010
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- by: rylathro
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This is the best film I saw at the Telluride Film Festival in 2006. It is a very well-told story with characters that engage you as you soak in the beautiful imagery. The story starts with the father as a young man in India and quickly finds him...
- 19.September.2010
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- by: Tom Desmond
- Tom Desmond rated this movie
 10/10Must See
This is the best film I saw at the Telluride Film Festival in 2006. It is a very well-told story with characters that engage you as you soak in the beautiful imagery. The story starts with the father as a young man in India and quickly finds him getting married and returning to the United States with his new bride. It then takes on following the life of their son, Gogol, and his struggle living in modern American culture while trying to live up to his parents' expectations that he hold onto his Indian heritage and traditions. While you may feel the story line is familiar, this film is anything but typical - it draws you in with the wonderful acting and grand cinematography. It will make you laugh, cry, and feel the bonds between the members of the Namesake's family.
- 19.September.2010
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- by: Tom Desmond
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The Namesake was a beautiful and moving film. The characters are well-rounded, and it is easy, even for a white girl whose family moved from Canada to the US, to feel what they feel. I found myself smiling and crying in places. It's a simple movie,...
- 12.August.2010
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- by: celticthistle
- celticthistle rated this movie0/10
The Namesake was a beautiful and moving film. The characters are well-rounded, and it is easy, even for a white girl whose family moved from Canada to the US, to feel what they feel. I found myself smiling and crying in places. It's a simple movie, but there is so much that it says. It will speak to anyone's heart. The acting was excellent, and Kal Penn is just superb. He can carry a movie by himself, frankly, but the supporting cast is also amazing. Irrfan Khan was incredible as Gogol's father. He and Tabu, who played his wife, had a practical sort of chemistry that felt authentic. The soundtrack is very unique and really fleshes out the movie. Highly recommended. Five stars, no question.
- 12.August.2010
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- by: celticthistle
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Opening up with bright golds and reds, The Namesake is one beautiful movie about one?s search for how powerful a name can be. Or maybe it?s about how a mother deals with her family, who?s getting older and leaving the nest. Or maybe it?s about the...
- 09.September.2009
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- by: Al Topich
- Al Topich rated this movie0/10
Opening up with bright golds and reds, The Namesake is one beautiful movie about one?s search for how powerful a name can be. Or maybe it?s about how a mother deals with her family, who?s getting older and leaving the nest. Or maybe it?s about the differences in culture between old India and the Americanized version of it. This seems to be the major problem with The Namesake, how it really lacks direction. The story goes through a 25-30 year time period and not really connecting the storylines well together. Why didn?t the movie flow very well, it?s probably not the director?s or screenwriter?s fault. I think it was mostly do to it being based off a book and the film trying to cover all parts without deviating from the story too much. But other than that there is a lot to be appreciated in this film. The theme of selfishness is a nice contradiction to what the Indian/Hindu cultural beliefs are, for example arranged marriages and how they are meant to support the family. Selfishness is seen throughout the film as a bride not changing her name, to a mother taking a vacation, to a son abandoning his family, and even to a daughter complaining about the heat. I like how the film showed the difference in culture from generation to generation and how less important tradition becomes when a person?s younger and how they fall back on it as they get older. In that aspect it reminds me of my favorite musical Fiddler On The Roof. I also really like how the mother?s role was focused on the most and how she had gave up her life for her family, and being so close to mother?s day this made me go out and buy an expensive gift for mommy dearest. The more I think about this movie the more I like it but I?m not sure if I would want to sit through the messiness of it again.....
6/10
- 09.September.2009
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- by: Al Topich
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The Namesake is an emotional journey into first generation Americans and how parents deal with the changing dynamics of there family. While this film is about a particular Indian family anyone can relate to the touching drama. At times the movie...
- 23.March.2009
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- by: prozac pop
- prozac pop rated this movie8/10Great
The Namesake is an emotional journey into first generation Americans and how parents deal with the changing dynamics of there family. While this film is about a particular Indian family anyone can relate to the touching drama. At times the movie becomes a tear-jerker without pushing the issue and letting it flow smoothly. Kal Penn losses his goofy persona to give a great perfomance and this overlooked film is a perfect watch for the holidays.
- 23.March.2009
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- by: prozac pop
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Generational conflict among immigrant Americans is a very common film theme, and a powerful one. "The Namesake" is one of the very best at capturing the nuances and emotions of both parents and children. The film is totally believable; there are no...
- 19.March.2009
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- by: Vic
- Vic rated this movie8/10Great
Generational conflict among immigrant Americans is a very common film theme, and a powerful one. "The Namesake" is one of the very best at capturing the nuances and emotions of both parents and children. The film is totally believable; there are no missteps. Beautifully acted and deeply involving, "The Namesake" effortlessly gets you to care for all its characters. Highly recommended.
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It got off to a slow start and you wondered if it was going to be the generic feel bad story, but then it picks up towards the middle an you start to really care about the characters, very touching movie about family and not appreciating whats...
- 19.March.2009
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- by: Crazyloc
- Crazyloc rated this movie8/10Great
It got off to a slow start and you wondered if it was going to be the generic feel bad story, but then it picks up towards the middle an you start to really care about the characters, very touching movie about family and not appreciating whats there, also the personal identity crisis that Gogol goes through is classic of many who want to be "American" but fail to realize being "American" is what you make of it, not who you are.
- 19.March.2009
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- by: Crazyloc
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