The Tribulations of a Privileged Dude Who Doesn't Actually Have Any Problems

Rating: 5/10 (21 March 2017)

Am I the only one who wanted to punch Dev Patel in the face while watching this film? He plays Saroo Brierley, a young Indian man who was separated from his family when he was a little boy, funneled into the Indian orphan system, and adopted by a loving Australian couple. He longs to return to India to see his birth family again, but is torn between wanting to reconnect with his roots and remaining loyal to the people who raised him.
The first half of "Lion" is the film at its best, thanks to the winningly adorable Sunny Pawar, who plays Saroo as a little boy. But once Saroo ages into Patel, the film turns into a saggy, interminable series of scenes in which Patel mopes, lashes out at everyone who's nice to him, and spends every night staring at Google Earth while taking no action whatsoever. What his actual dilemma is is never made clear by the screenplay or Patel's performance. I stated above that he's torn between two cultures, but I'm only conjecturing about that, since that's not shown in the movie. Instead we watch a privileged man surrounded by supportive people whining about how he wants to return to India while we watch him and want to scream at him, "Then get off your ass and just visit India already!!"
Patel was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, but he didn't deserve to be. Nicole Kidman, who plays his adoptive mother, was much more deserving of her Best Supporting Actress nomination. The film also nabbed nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score, but won nothing.
Grade: B-