dzturturro When it's at its best, "The Namesake", directed by Mira Nair, blends together the character building of the book by the same name (written by Jhumpa Lahiri), and the physicality of a movie. However, that is not always the case, as many times characters and emotions get jumbled together by poor acting and pacing issues. The story begins by following Ashoke, who marries Ashima, and they later have a son named Gogol. In the novel, one chapter is spent on this relationship, and much of the rest of the story is told from Gogol's perspective. The film takes much longer to get to Gogol, so when he does appear, the focus must shift to him. Instead, the movie continues to follow his family, making Gogol more and more irrelevant. When he finally has a crucial scene, the actor that portrays him (Kal Penn) does as good as a job as an eight-year-old could do. He reads his lines as if he was reading off of a teleprompter, and his actions seem stunted and choreographed. The absolutely horrendous acting causes the audience to lose interest quickly with Gogol. Irregularities with the novel, such as the exclusion of Ruth, Gogol's first girlfriend, hardly matter as the movie moves very abruptly about the time line, making quick, drastic cuts that can span over 10 years in one second. The continuous switching causes the audience to lose their connection with Gogol, and thus their connection to the movie as a whole. If you have not read the book, you may not feel that there are large gaps to fill. However, the differences, and exclusion between the movie and the book continue to grow as the movie progresses. First, we do not see the book save Ashoke's life. This is because Ms. Nair was trying to surprise us with the reveal later in the movie, so that exclusion was understandable. However, when Ruth doesn't appear, the book readers will start to furrow their brows. She is an essential part of Gogol's life, and without her, the payoff of Gogol finally finding someone like him, Moushumi, isn't as large. Also, Dmitri is excluded from the movie. Even though he was a small character in the book, he added much-needed depth to Moushumi's character, a depth which we never got while watching the movie.All in all, A book that was mostly built on character development, with very little plot, is one of the hardest subjects to base a movie on. Ms. Nair does a good job of trying to get all of the pieces to fit, but in the end, the movie doesn't function nearly as smooth as the book does. With a run time of only 122 minutes, it's hard to imagine a scenario where the movie can spend as long as the book in showing its audience certain settings and characters.Score: 5/10

squawlocal I read the "namesake" as part of a school project, then we watched the movie in class. I thought that the movie did a good job of portraying what was said in the book. I did think that there were a few things that were left out of the movie that could have made it a little better.There were a few things that the movie brought light to that made me think about what other peoples lives are like. People who weren't born in the US. It shows the parallels between the cultures of India and America.All in all I think that this is a good movie, but there were some things that weren't done that I think would have made the movie better.

Sharbatanu Chatterjee This two-hour-long adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Namesake' revolves around a child born in the USA to Bengali parents - the almost commonplace Indian scientist or professional moving to the USA and bringing up their next generation in the States - the generation of so-called ABCD's (American Born Confused Desi's). But what makes the narration and story-line interesting is the role names play in the drama and the subtle way in which it brings about the questions of identity, love and regret.The movie starts with a quintessential arranged marriage in Calcutta between Ashok (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu). The subtle depictions of the growing love between the couple is heart-warming amidst the cold and harsh NY winters. Add to that the typical Indian cringing-of-the- nose at 'American' cultures (read freer dating and girlfriend-boyfriend cultures) and you have some comic relief. The character of the protagonist, Gogol Ganguli (Kal Penn) - a reference to the Russian author Nikolai Gogol, depicts the somewhat confused Indian experiencing the American dream. Kal's portrayal of the lad at cultural crossroads, as well as his regrets from failed relationships is something to really take back from the movie. Tabu and Khan were as balanced as the spice ratios in the delicately perfect Bengali shukto, though with a slight accent in their Bengali tongue (might be explainable - Irrfan's Ashok is supposed to be from Jamshedpur). The romanticism of the couple, finally separated by death, tinged with the nuances of Gogol's life form a major part of the movie.Overall, a thoughtful and soul-stirring delight, though the pace went a bit erratic towards the end. The music, though touching, could have been used to a much better effect. But still, this thought-provoker is a must watch for the desis and ABCD's alike!

hddu10-819-37458 This is family "coming to the US" story spanning two generations; the 1st coming from what was once considered an "exotic" locale (i.e. India). Unfortunately, in focusing on the lives of both the father's generation AND the son's, the film runs way too long, with scenes that really don't add much to the plot line; an example being the family trip to India...which is superfluous since we've already seen it as a backdrop in the first part of the movie. While the film does have a couple of excellent performances (Zuleikha Robinson proves again that she is as sultry as she is versatile), overall it is very slow moving and self-indulgent. Like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" it uses (see: overdoes) the kitsch/formula of a culture that's not quite like the rest of what middle-America may be used to over and over (i.e. "we're Indian/Greek/Italian/Rastafarian/Scientologist...so we have to do things this way") but in the end succeeds in showing us just how much we really are alike.