2017 Oscars: 100% Cheap Emotional Manipulation Free

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2017)

I am happy to announce that no Best Drama for Housewives Honorary Oscar will be presented this year.
This semiannual disgrace is bestowed on syrupy films that garner widespread critical praise or awards. They contain emotionally manipulative plots with absolutely no interest in real world consequences. Room earned this distinction last year.
I make this announcement during my Lion review not just because I could not of a clever introduction. The comparison is just too obvious and proves Lion was a potential disaster averted by more refined creators. Both films are adaptations, Lion from the book A Long Way Home. Adaption is a tricky process for even the great filmmakers. One common problem, narration, murdered Room and even gave legend Scorsese trouble in the first act of his 2016 film Silence. Additionally, both movies uses the Child in Peril. An age old technique to manipulate audiences and grab their attention. This method's effectiveness is rooted in human nature and has depreciated in bygone decades. Maybe India's exoticness acted as a distraction, but Lion never felt cheap. Although the film begins to coast after the first act, Lion is the emotional experience we hope to get out of our best drama. I didn't laugh. I didn't cry. But my elation was real and my eyes might have been a bit moist.
Lion is based on the real life story of Saroo, introduced as a 7-8 year old boy (Sunny Pawar) living in the village of Ganesh Tali, India. He is the middle child in a family existing between survival and poverty. The father is absent and Saroo's mother works as a labor to secure a living. Saroo reveres his elder brother Guddu, not many years older, but already working and stealing to survive. Guddu frequently brings his brother on these excursion, but one evening Saroo falls asleep on a decommissioned train. Saroo is trapped on a 1000+ km journey across the subcontinent. After escaping in Calcutta, Saroo is alone and unable to speak the common language in a city filed with predators. Through both misfortune and luck, Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple the Brierleys (Kidman, Wenam). Years later, Saroo (Dev Patel) is beginning a career when his forgotten past suddenly reenters his life. Traumatized, Saroo must reconcile with his past, his family, and his girlfriend (Mara).
The first act is sublime. I honestly have no idea how to evaluate child actors, but Pawar commands more love and best wishes than just any cute face. His innocence and filial devotion toward his brother makes him unforgettable. This purity exists in sharp contrast with the world around him. Village slums are bearable with family, but watching him alone in the streets of Calcutta is excruciating. Our perception of the child carries the film going forwarded. There is a natural affinity for older Saroo. His filial devotion remains, making him unmistakable from the child Saroo and still likable. We want this character who is still a child in our eyes to be spared suffering. As of writing, Dev Patel is nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. His performance is certainly notable, but the nomination is more a result of underselling the role. Patel is the lead for 2/3 of the movie. That is beyond the scope of a supporting character, but Supporting Actor is much less competitive than Best Actor where Patel would have no chance. Kidman has her own nomination and her role is opposite. She sticks to the background, but then steps up and carries one crucial scene. She has no chance at hardware, but her performance provides some energy to otherwise bland acts. The actual goings on in the second half involve Saroo investigating his roots online, pretty uninteresting. Really the second half is devoted to character emotions, which considering nothing else is happening, are not complex. Obviously Saroo is damaged from his ordeal and simply forgetting his past is not psychologically satisfying. Lion tries working these feelings in the context of family, but by the time Saroo makes breakthroughs this attempt at an emotional tapestry becomes a throw rug. Instantly forgettable. A letdown, considering young Saroo and the cinematography are great film caliber. Lion might not be infallible, but it is the rare honest drama well worth a winter's evening.