The sweltering colors of Calcutta contrast starkly with the frigid white of the New York winter. When the beautiful Ashima first arrives in New York with her new husband, she might as well be walking on another planet. But the film settles into a comfortable rhythm, and it’s clear that under Nair’s intimate and bold direction, we’re in good hands.
Adapted from the bestselling novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, the film employs an episodic structure that results in multiple climactic moments and at times feels a bit rambling. With an ultra-Anglo girlfriend (Barrett) and a new name, Gogol wanders through life resentful and disconnected. But while his parents struggle to maintain their identities, Gogol rejects his. As a child of immigrant parents, Gogol grows up surrounded by echoes of a vast culture.
Born in New York, their son, Gogol (Penn), embraces his American identity at the expense of his Indian heritage. The parents, Ashima (Tabu) and Ashoke (Khan), are near strangers when, after their arranged marriage, they move from Calcutta to settle in New York City. A complex meditation on family, relationships, and identity, the film traces two generations of the Ganguli family. Alternately vibrant and restrained in all the right places, The Namesake is beautiful and engaging. Emily can do a lot.With her latest effort, director Nair ( Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding) does not disappoint. Here, what you’ve stolen belongs to you, and anybody who comes for it deserves whatever you can do to them. Criminal can’t afford to think about that side of the equation.
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Has the youngster really been swallowing her pride and feigning refinement in pursuit of an unpaid internship? Too bad she doesn’t know how to add her would-be boss’ credit card number to her list of victims-to-be.Īnd too bad the people whose credit she is wrecking are likely just as hard up as she is. Gina Gershon cameos as a self-satisfied exec who, to say the least, is not offering to pay $200 for Emily’s first hour of work and more from there. There, the exploitative relationships are legal but the people may be even less invested in her well-being than the crooks are. The film’s momentum is clearly pushing Emily in one direction, but the straight world beckons. But then, nice guys and nice girls don’t build crime rings. If only he were the sole person running this operation. Whether thanks to an urge to get ahead or a natural attraction, she starts sleeping with Youcef, who earns her uneasy trust and ours. But her instinct to stand up for herself always kicks in, and the results are gripping. How do you make yourself look trustworthy to people you suspect are criminals themselves? And when both parties know a deal’s illicit, how do you keep from getting burned or beaten? Emily has some truly hairy encounters, and Plaza doesn’t try to make her look fearless. Putting on a placid face doesn’t come easily to Emily, and Plaza burbles through countless micro-expressions as her character reevaluates interactions on the fly. And that’s the easy part - the audition for an enterprise where dollar amounts, and physical dangers, ramp up quickly. Though he gives out info on a need-to-know basis and there are several tough-looking characters in his shady office/warehouse, he’s always straight about each job’s risks.įord shows how threatening an ordinary electronics store can feel when you’re walking to the cashier with a $2,000 flatscreen and credit card that may be declined or worse. Soon she’s part of a credit card-fraud ring, freelancing under the guidance of a compassionate-seeming man named Youcef (Rossi). Repaying a kindness, a coworker offers to hook her up: Text this number, he says, and you can make $200 in an hour. Lena Dunham's 'Sharp Stick' Goes to Utopia