‘Lion’ Review: Dev Patel Stars in Well-Intentioned Awards Bait
Even Nicole Kidman’s lovely performance can’t obscure this film’s odd ideas about well-meaning white parents and their obliviousness to their adoptive children’s background
“Lion,” based on the true story of Saroo Brierly, a young Indian boy who was separated from his family, adopted by an Australian couple, and found his way home decades later, may not have been created for the express purpose of giving Harvey Weinstein something else to put in his trophy cabinet, but it’s the kind of movie that wouldn’t exist without awards, and makes a compelling argument for phasing them out altogether.
[...] the good stuff: “Lion,” which was adapted by Luke Davies (“Candy”) from Brierly’s memoir “A Long Way Home,” is sensitive and measured, with fine performances throughout, as well as a glossy look courtesy of “Top of the Lake” director Garth Davis.
In the middle of the movie, before Saroo makes the decision to go looking for his home, he’s at a dinner party thrown by friends from the restaurant school he’s attending, where for the first time he’s surrounded by people from different national and ethnic backgrounds.
Kidman in particular has been depicted as the soul of grace, a welcoming and calming presence in Saroo’s life, despite the fact that the second Indian child she and her husband adopted grows into a surly, damaged young man whose fits of temper make him a threat to both himself and others.
Saroo lives in an Indian slum with his mother and brother, and this time, there’s no version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” to pull him out of abject poverty.
Eventually, someone takes him into an orphanage, but the overwhelming picture is that Indians are cruel and callous, and white people are friendly and kind-hearted.
Had it fleshed out the character of Saroo’s parents, the movie could have examined the limitations of white liberalism, the damage that even — maybe especially — well-meaning people can do if they don’t educate themselves along the way.