Reviews

I must say that I hold the (maybe not so) unique position of being a first generation American, born to Indian parents. Given the situation, I can probably relate to this particular movie a little more than your average moviegoer.

If you took this film off the reels, added in some commercials, and shortened it to an hour, I could have practically submitted it to A&E as my own personal Biography. I think this serves as a compliment to the Mehta brothers for their believable portrayal of individuals in my situation. Sure, some of the events that transpire may be a little melodramatic, but I don't think that they are enough so to significantly detract from the movie experience.

If you want to go see American Chai, be sure to bear in mind that this movie is clearly targeted at Indian American audiences, particularly American-born Indian Americans. Several scenes in this movie had me doubled over in laughter, while the rest of the audience stared at me like I was crazy. This is not to say that the other members of the audience were disappointed with the movie; I just felt that I was in a position to better understand the finer points of the film, and as a result I walked away with a greater appreciation for what American Chai tried to accomplish.

What DID American Chai try to accomplish, you ask? I feel that this movie was made to light-heartedly examine the internal struggle that affects all first generation offspring, using Indian Americans as a model. Overall, I would say that the movie succeeds at its mission, despite some rough spots here and there. For a debut production, the pacing, cinematography, and script are all well above average. All characters are well portrayed, with highlights being Aasif Mandvi as Engineering Sam and Paresh Rawal as Sureel's Dad.

Bottom line: If either you or a close friend of yours is a first generation Indian American, you absolutely must see this movie. 10/10. Otherwise, this is just another romantic comedy. 6/10. Put those two together, and you get an overall average of 8/10.

I just saw this film today, and I felt compelled to comment on it. I am sure that a lot of people walked away from The Cell lauding it as an intense thriller. I, however, am not one of those people. Having said this, let's get to work.

First of all, the pacing is a little slow. Not slow enough to ruin the picture, but enough so that there were moments when I was aware of the time passing by. A well paced movie flows from beginning to end, and when it's over you stand up wondering where the two hours went.

Secondly, the script leaves a lot to be desired. The "thriller" was rather formulaic in my opinion. There were no significant plot twists, and I knew exactly how the movie was going to end well before it ended. Also, the entire set of dream sequences, although impressive, had little to no bearing on the outcome of the story. Everything that happens as far as cracking the case is concerned occurs in the real world. For this movie, the sub-plot is far more interesting than the actual plot, which is a big no-no.

Perhaps the worst fault in the script is that it is highly implausible. This technology that allows an individual to enter the mind of another is absolutely ludicrous, and I found myself unable to make that leap successfully.

Despite these setbacks, the movie does have its good points, the main one being Tarsem Singh. He took the less-than-extraordinary script to this movie and exploited its strengths to the max, which is a very smart move. The irrelevant dream sequences are absolutely stunning, giving The Cell its well deserved label of "eye candy."

Also, Singh put his talented cast to good work, allowing them the freedom to add their own unique spin to the characters. Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn turn in convincing performances, and Vincent D'Onofrio/Jake Thomas play a very disturbing Carl Stargher, even though together they speak about 6 times in the movie.

Therefore, on a scale from 1 to 10, this movie falls in the 5-6 range. If you absolutely must see it, then go see it in a theater, because anything less would be an injustice to the marvelous visual effects being presented. However, don't walk into the theater expecting anything more than impressive eye candy, because you will find yourself sorely disappointed.

I must say right off the bat that I was very disappointed with this movie. Jet Li is one of the most amazing fighters to ever hit the silver screen, with credentials (in martial arts, not acting) that rival the late great Bruce Lee and easily surpass Jackie Chan. He can do things with his body that I can't even do in my dreams.

Having said that, I sat through this movie wondering to myself, "Why did they feel the need to CGI enhance these fight scenes?" He can do amazing things by himself! By inexplicably making him jump 30 feet in the air while kicking in 9 directions at once, they serve only to discredit his true athletic ability. And not only did they meddle with his fighting talent, but they did it so poorly. The tampered scenes are very obvious, with more visible seams than a tailor shop. Granted, the x-ray effects were a welcome change, but that was about all this movie had to offer in terms of fresh ideas.

The plot is drawn out at great lengths, with fight scenes a little too few and far between for my tastes. Also, I felt the black gangsters were over-developed, while the asian gangsters were under-developed (Russell Wong's character is barely on the screen for 10 minutes of the movie, while Isiah Washington's incessant melodrama drowns out a good portion of the flick).

I think most of the problem comes from the over-ambitious screenplay. The premise is a good one: asian mafia versus black gangsters. However, there are two roads this premise could have taken. Either A) they could have turned it into a hardcore action pic about gang violence, with lots of guns, fighting, double crossing, etc., or B) they could have made a romantic tragedy focusing on the struggles between the two lovers because of their opposite backgrounds. This movie strives desperately to do both, but the end result is that neither aspect is fully explored, leaving a mediocre-at-best storyline for the cast to work with.

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to give this movie about a 4. It had a lot of promise, and I was hoping to see Jet Li showcased to his full potential, but it appears that his ship has yet to come.