Dickens meets "Central Station"

Rating: 5/10 (1 January 2017)

I'll be honest, I cried throughout this movie. The Dickensian themes are unrelenting: little poor boys risking their lives to buy milk, mother has to carry rocks for a living, unkind strangers. For a white man to make a film like this is risky at best. The villainy of almost everyone the main character encounters is so over-the-top, it practically reeks of racism. Dev Patel's easy, aryan good looks surly boost the ratings and popularity with white viewers, but it also recalls a past where actors like Caesar Romero played an Indian servant in "A Little Princess." I'm sure many Indians will dislike the fact that their entire country is portrayed as heartless pedophiles. Even "Central Station," the wonderful Brazilian film of a similar theme (mother is killed and little boy has to fend for himself) is peppered with humor, and in the end, homespun humanity. I'm sure Saroo Brierley told his story truthfully, but his bitterness for India shines through. Even Dickens had the heart to explain his villain's behavior (most of the time), but this movie doesn't explain or show the dynamic that would lead to a child falling through the cracks. "Central station" builds the story and characters in a way that seems to be outdated now in films. This movie and others come across like extended previews— snippets of information with no real, intensive insight into anything or anybody. All the characters seem hollow, Hollywood prototypes. Yes I cried, it's certainly a film full of sadness and brutality, and yes those issues should be addressed in Indian and everywhere else. But this white man's version left me feeling a little funny, like I was being manipulated.