Lion
Reviewed by Michael Dalton
Directed by Garth Davis
Starring Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham
[rating: 2.5/5]
You must have heard about Lion by now, Garth Davis’s factual film about a young boy called Saroo, a native of West Bengal, who, through a series of misadventures, ends up on a wild and dangerous journey that lands him in Tasmania with new parents and a life unlike anything he could’ve dreamed of. The first half of the film concerns Saroo’s poverty-stricken life, his life with his loving mother and elder brother, how he was separated from him at a train station, how he inadvertently travelled over 16oo kilometers to Calcutta, the street kids he ran with there, how he almost disappeared into a child sex ring, his visit to the sacred Ganges, his adventures in an orphanage, and his eventual adoption to a loving couple (Nicole Kidman, in a terrifying wig, and David Wenham). It’s thrillingly paced, the dusty, golden landscapes are expertly filmed by Greig Fraser, and such is 8 year-old Sunny Pawar’s performance, and it’s a debut too, we can’t let go. If last year was the year of young Jacob Tremblay, who executed one of the greatest heists in cinema history with his powerful performance in Room, this year’s felony charge goes to Pawar. You cannot take your eyes off him. With his smile, his vibrant physicality, and his intensity, this is a debut that deserves its own award category. There are few other performances this award season that stand as tall.
It’s a shame then that as the second half of the story begins we must say goodbye to Pawar and hello to Dev Patel who, in an incredibly over-praised performance, takes over the role. Of course the story takes on a different texture and a different geography but even so, the film nearly grinds to a halt. I was asked about Lion the other day, in particular about Patel’s work, and I could only shrug. “He’s doing very well though isn’t he?” my inquisitor remarked and I had to agree. He catapulted into cinemas neatly with his work in Slumdog Millionaire but drove me to distraction with his hyper hotel manager in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. In the latter film I kept wishing he’d tone it down. Here, I was praying for him to turn it up. He’s lean, handsome, and blessed with a lustrous mop of hair (its a character too), but his Saroo, now studying hospitality in Melbourne and romancing a filly as dull as he is (a perfectly cast Rooney Mara), functions as little more than a vessel that moons about, wondering about the mother he left behind, and the more he does, the less interesting the story becomes. Set in a time when Google Maps were emerging, Saroo starts to study them, then some more, and then some more, earnestly looking for a city or street back in West Bengal that rings a bell. It is here, for those unfamiliar with the story, we can easily predict the finish line, and that finish line is the film’s biggest disappointment. Regardless of what happened that day, and I wouldn’t dream of spoiling it for you, that cataclysmic moment is one that should’ve shaken the rafters but it’s a flat tyre. I love a good weep at the movies as much as the next guy but this was the moment that Patel had to tear us asunder. I can only recommend you study the character he shares the scene with. She picks up the slack.
Expressing disdain for Lion’s manipulative elements is to risk the wrath of thousands who have wept openly at Saroo’s story. And what an invigorating story it is, inspiring even. It’s a shame Davis didn’t maintain a balance between the two halves.
