Extremely well acted

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2017)

Lately I've been avoiding the "based on a true story" genre completely because I find it to be manipulative and exploitative, and lately there has been a spate of those titles (Deepwater Horizon, Sully, Hacksaw Ridge, Snowden, Patriots Day, etc. etc., ad nauseum) and some of them recount stories which are so recent that I remember when the true story happened, making it feel like I'm watching a rerun, but this, Lion, is one of the better of its kind.
It effectively tells a story which I am unfamiliar with, and haven't seen/ heard/ read dozens of stories about, and does so with great acting from all participants, especially first time actor Sunny Pawar, about a young man attempting to trace his roots, find his tiny village in India (which he was lost from a quarter century earlier) and find his family, with the help of Google Earth.
The first half of the film shows him as a child (played exceptionally by Pawar, who relies on facial expressions, and movements, with little dialogue used) getting lost, and on an abandoned train travelling cross country, and, creepily, nearly getting caught up in child sex trafficking. The second half deals with him as an adult (played equally well by Dev Patel) in his search, and how wanting to find his past affects his present day life, and relationship with Rooney Mara (who also does very well in her role)
Well acted, and beautifully photographed in India, and Australia, my only issue with this film is its slightly uneven, overlong two hour-long run time. I feel there was about fifteen minutes or so which could have been left out.