The Namesake

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: March 9, 2007

7.9	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 77 Ratings

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NeilBMay 5, 2009

Too much plot, too little time. Worthy but a bit cheesy in places

0 of 1 users found this helpful

COJan 10, 2008

This movie covered too much ground in too little time. I never felt a palpable connection with the characters in the movie besides the father and mother. The scenes regarding the son seemed trite and irrelevant to the plot. I feel like the This movie covered too much ground in too little time. I never felt a palpable connection with the characters in the movie besides the father and mother. The scenes regarding the son seemed trite and irrelevant to the plot. I feel like the movie should have focused more on the racial issues than just mere glimpses (i.e. the mailbox graffiti). The classroom scene where Kal Penn first makes his appearance was horrible. My guess is that they wanted to depict to what extent Kal's character lamented his name but the scene never really grabbed me. It fell into the category of a B teen movie. The filming locations were beautiful but the plot hardly matched.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

AndrewK.May 13, 2007

The Namesake would've been a much better film if it didn't try to cover so much territory. I know it's based on a novel, but a novel is a medium that can cover that large a scope. The film started with its focus on Ashoke and The Namesake would've been a much better film if it didn't try to cover so much territory. I know it's based on a novel, but a novel is a medium that can cover that large a scope. The film started with its focus on Ashoke and Ashima, and then halfway through it switched to focus on their son, Gogol. You can't switch the character you're focused on halfway through a film. Especially to such an uninteresting character. If they were going to focus on Gogol, they should've started with him and shown parts of the parents' story in flashback to help bring understanding to his journey. Ashoke and Ashima were much more interesting characters, and I wish that the film had just been about them. The actors that played their parts were brilliant. Kal Penn, as Gogol, has got to be one of the worst actors I've ever seen. The scenes with his girlfriend (the white one that acts like Kirsten Dunst) were unbearable. They were completely superficial and boring, which I think is somewhat the point, but it didn't come off as realistic. I also resent it when filmmakers think their viewers are so unattentive that they have to be reminded of things that happened earlier in the film by showing us brief clips over again. I disagree with a comment made by Dennis Lim at The LA Times, who said (in a roundabout way) that the film was not didactic. Wrong. We are being constantly reminded of the themes of the film (i.e. Gogol hates his name, etc.) and what it is that we are supposed to be focusing on. There's also a scene in which Gogol is in high school that comes off just like all Hollywood schlock, portraying teenagers in a completely unrealistic way. Gogol is supposed to have graduated in '96, and the other students act like middle eastern people are SOOOO strange. I graduated in '01. I went to school with tons of middle eastern students. Nobody treated them like they were freaks. We got along just like everyone else. Bottom line is this movie is way overrated, lacked focus, had too broad a scoap and was didactic and unrealistic. Which isn't a very good endorsement, is it?… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

NathanRJan 6, 2008

If you want a much better story about the conflict and struggle to adapt between immigrants and their first generation children, watch/read the Joy Luck Club. I echo Andrew K. in that the movie tried to cover too much, and in the end, felt If you want a much better story about the conflict and struggle to adapt between immigrants and their first generation children, watch/read the Joy Luck Club. I echo Andrew K. in that the movie tried to cover too much, and in the end, felt twice as long as the 2+ hours it really is. When you can surmise the message of a movie within the first 10 minutes of watching it, it makes you wonder what the next two hours are for.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful