The Namesake – bland, over long and boring

Mira Nair’s 2006 film didn’t draw me in. The characters were superficial, the cinematography squandered many opportunities to stun the audience with East-West contrasts. I felt like I was watching a flat, emotionless account of events in a family’s life. This happened, then this happened, then another thing happened. Where was the drama?

Again and again we return to the boy’s name. Was it so interesting or important? Not for me. A few plot turns would have been nice. A bit of tension maybe? A sense of struggle, conflict, alienation, prejudice, dilemma, regret, surprise or any number of other ingredients would have lifted this work beyond the “couple migrate, find it a bit strange but cope” format.

Half of this film should have been left on the cutting room floor.