rs98762001

Caught this at the Tribeca Film Festival. It's a plodding, dull tale about a young American girl and her adventures in India. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot predictable, and the acting risible. Some nice scenery, and it's decently shot, but there's nothing enlightening to be found concerning the rich theme of two different cultures clashing and then merging. There's a great movie to be made about Westerners adrift in India, but this sure isn't it. Hard to see who the audience is for this film. It's certainly not sophisticated enough for the art-house crowd. And with no well-known actors and the slow pace, it's as far from crossover as you can get. Maybe the director's second film will be better.

I caught this short at the Deep Ellum film festival and was very impressed with it. What's especially interesting is the way the director uses mostly visuals to tell the story. The dialogue is spare but very funny, and the actors - especially the two leads - successfully straddle the fine line between reality and exaggeration. My only complaint would be that the short's ambition leads to a slight tonal discrepancy between the first and second halves of the film. For the most part, however, it was extremely enjoyable and entertaining. I'm looking forward to seeing what the director and the actors come up with next.