A Sensitive Yet Flawed "Lion"

Rating: Null/10 (12 April 2017)

"Lion" was an exceptionally well-performed film that tackled serious issues, yet failed to resolve them. It was nonetheless an earnest approach to a number of delicate topics.
The film was flawed in its failure to properly juggle two thematic strands: (1) the narrative of a separation of little boy from his family in Indian and his quest to search for his roots.
(2) the problems faced by the kind mother and father in Australia, who adopted a pair of foundling children.
It turned out that the first narrative completely overshadowed the second. The viewer feels so much empathy for the Australian mother and father, who clearly have struggled in raising the two adopted boys. Yet, we never actually see the child rearing and the home life except when the boys are adults.
In the bonus section of the DVD, there were several deleted scenes. Yet not even the deleted scenes presented the home life of the two young boys. One can only wildly guess at why Mantosh developed a drug addiction. And it was left completely vague whether or not Saroo longed to return to India while he was raised by his new family. The film presented his search for his family roots only as an afterthought when he was an adult working a hotel.
Without a doubt, the most sensitive performance of the film was that of Nicole Kidman as the Australian mother. In her own way, this character was the true lion of the film.