Amal - A Movie Review

I have something a little different for you today. When I first starting talking with Chris Monroe (check this earlier blog post for how I met Chris) he suggested I watch the movie called “Amal” (2007). This would give me a overview of the Indian culture. I normally would not be drawn to a movie with subtitles but since I could stream it on Netflix, I was out nothing. The movie is mostly in English so you do not have to rely on subtitles for the entire movie but you will need them to understand everything that happens in the movie. It is an intriguing movie that has a twist in the end. I will not give it away in case you would like to look it up and watch it. Personally my favorite kind of movies have a twist in the end you don’t see coming. “Maverick” (1994) has always been one of my favorites because it had me saying… “WHAT?” in the last scene. “The Prestige” (2006) was another one of those movies for me. Now “Amal” doesn’t have quite the same impact and if you don’t pay close attention you may miss it so be sure you start this movie when you are wide awake and not distracted by the neighborhood kids or dogs. The main character of the movie is an auto-rickshaw driver who has an encounter with a wealthy customer who decides to leave his fortune to Amal. The story is the search for Amal before the deadline expires and the inheritance goes to the man’s family. I don’t want to give away any more of the plot so…

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If you are looking for a good movie for the weekend, check out “Amal” on Netflix. I probably also need to mention this is not a little kid movie. It is rated TV-14. There are no terrible scenes in the movie but I am sure kids would get easily distracted and bored and therefore you may miss something that is crucial to the plot. I guess if you need a movie for the kids set in India you can always stick in “Jungle Book.” The original Disney animated version. I guess that is another tie I have to India. “Jungle Book” was my oldest daughter’s absolute favorite movie when she was two. We even all went as a family to the new 2016 version. I would give all these movies five stars.

Until next time!

Kevin

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