Lion will break your heart and then warm it

Movie Title:    Lion

Grade:  A-

Rating:   PG-13

In a Nutshell:  Adapted from the book A Long Way Home: A Memoir , this inspiring true story will break your heart and then warm it.  

Most people missed this film when it came to theaters (including me), but now that it has received 6 Academy Award nominations, everyone is talking about it (including me)!

Uplifting theme: 

• What incredibly selfless love people give when they adopt children, especially the street children from poor countries.  Over 80,000 children go missing in India each year.  You can learn more about the movement that has started because of this movie at www.lionmovie.com
• Determination, love, courage, home, family, blood, bonds, heritage, adoption

Things I liked:

• Beautiful cinematography.  Greig Fraser (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Zero Dark Thirty) uses a child’s perspective to film surrounding areas and provide a sense of wonder.
• Three cheers for Google Earth!
• The love of Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John (David Wenham) for their adopted children was so sweet.  I got teary eyed almost every time Sue was with her sons.
• You don’t learn the touching reason why the movie is called Lion until the very end of the movie.
• Dev Patel plays the grown-up Saroo with the absolutely adorable Sunny Pawar playing the young Saroo.
• What makes the movie even more powerful is knowing that it’s a true story.  You get to see real footage of when Sue meets Saroo’s biological mother just three years ago in 2014.
• As an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary College, I thought it was fascinating that it was food that suddenly brought memories back to Saroo about his childhood.
• I enjoyed learning more about India and its culture. We also get to visit Australia in the movie.

Things I didn’t like:

• SPOILER:  It made me so sad that no one would help Saroo in the train station.  Poor thing.  I just wanted to hug him tightly and give him something to eat.
• The beginning and end were really great, but it starts to drag in the middle when Saroo grows up and gets depressed and mopey before taking action.
• Some of the editing was choppy.
• When you first see Nicole Kidman in that wig, you think, “What the heck?”, but then, when you see the real Sue at the end of the movie, you think, “Oh, Ok.”

Interesting lines:

• “You weren’t just adopting us, but our past as well.” – Saroo
• ‘I really hope she’s there.  She needs to see how beautiful you are.” – Sue 

Tips for parents: 

• There are subtitles in the first half of the movie and again in the end.
• Pre-marital relations.
• Your children will see some extreme poverty and, hopefully, be grateful for what they have.

@trinaboice 

Delivery Man now out on DVD

Delivery Man came out on the Big Screen several months ago, but today it finally hits the DVD market on your local store shelves.  If you missed it, now's your chance to catch a heart-warming movie.

Movie Title:  Delivery Man

PG-13, 1 hour 43 minutes

Grade:  B+

In a Nutshell:  A feel-good movie by Ken Scott, this film is based on the true story of a sperm donor who discovers he has fathered 533 kids.  Less than a year before this one hit theaters, Ken Scott made a similar French-Canadian film entitled Starbuck which hardly anyone in the U.S. saw, but was a hit with our northern neighbors.  Cue Vince Vaughn for box office magic.  There is a sweet and goofy charm to both movies that will leave you smiling.

Uplifting theme: 

• First of all, having kids really does make you better, as Vince Vaughn’s character David Wozniak says.  The film is not only about children searching for their father, but a father searching for meaning in his life.
• As the tag line for the movie says: “You’re never quite ready for what life delivers.”  We all have heartaches and joys along the way.  The lesson is to learn from them and become better each day.

Things I liked: 

• The movie asks some good questions that are worth discussing about adoption, donors, paternity and privacy.  Should adopted children have the right to know who their parents are since they never signed an anonymity clause?  What do YOU think? I'd love to read your comments below!
• How I Met Your Mother: The Complete Series fans will love seeing Cobie Smulders in the role of Emma.
• The misty-eyed sentiment is schmaltzy, but it still worked on me.
• Look at the kids’ expressions right after Vince says David was his lover.
• The likeable character Vince Vaughn plays has a heart of gold, despite his immature actions.  Thankfully, we get to watch him “grow up” and discover what’s truly important in life.

Things I didn’t like: 

• Where are all of the mothers of these 533 children? 
• So many films today treat fathers as invisible or irrelevant, so I must say that it’s nice to see one where fathers truly matter.  And they do.
• I wouldn’t say this film is a straight out comedy; it’s more amusing than hilarious.

Tips for parents: There is some content that warrants caution for parents of younger children: 1 F-bomb, some other milder profanity, drug use and masturbation are implied, and two men kiss briefly on the lips.