Movie Reviews

Review in a Hurry:  Raised by immigrant parents, Gogol (Kal Penn of Harold & Kumar fame) renounces his cultural heritage and given name. But you’ll want to embrace this heartfelt flick, even though it suffers from narrative bloat—like it scarfed down too many White Castles...

The Bigger Picture:  What’s in a Namesake? Too much, it turns out, as this overstuffed adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s bestseller spans two continents and 30-plus years. Fortunately, solid performances and Mira Nair’s sensitive direction make the lengthy journey a pleasant one. 

After their arranged wedding in Calcutta, Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) and his bride Ashima (Tabu) jet to New York to start a new life. Ashima gives birth to a son, whom Ashoke calls Gogol—a reference to his fave author and to a tragic accident from years earlier. It’s not the best name for a boy in the ’70s (though today it might be cool to sound like a search engine), so little Gogol gets teased by other kids.

After high school, an Americanized Gogol (now Penn) shuns his upbringing, which incites the wrath of Khan! Okay, no, Ashoke’s just disappointed, but Gogol changes his name, gets a wealthy Waspy girlfriend, becomes an architect and distances himself from his traditionalist parents. But certain events lead him to a new appreciation of his past.  

In covering so much ground, Namesake is often episodic and dramatically rushed. Though Gogol becomes the story’s central focus, his folks remain the richer, better-drawn characters, and the pic feels off-balance when it—like Gogol—strays too far from them. Lovely, nuanced performances by Khan and Tabu help anchor the film emotionally, but Penn lacks the depth of his elders. Still, it’s good to see him stretching beyond Kumar, and this should help his career cruise past White Castle.  

The 180—a Second Opinion:  If you have to trash this flick, hate how much it’s gonna cost you to book that vacay to India, which you’ll so wanna do after all the colorful scenery and gorgey views of the Taj Mahal.