Based on a true
story, Lion is an affecting chronicle that
spans continents and decades as a boy’s personal loss is rekindled as an
adult. It is an engaging, emotional
story that tugs at the heartstrings to its touching conclusion.
In
1986, in India, an impoverished five year old boy, Saroo, is separated from his
family at a train station and is transported hundreds of miles away with no
idea how to get back to his family. Told from his point of view, Saroo is lost
in a sea of humanity, but we never ever lose our compassion for his plight and
seemingly hopeless search. We witness his innocence amid other homeless
children and adult strangers who may or may not be friendly. One day he is adopted by an Australian couple
and transported across the ocean to another country which opens up a whole new
world, and many years go by when the adult Sharoo (Dev Patel) has an epiphany
that compels him to search for his birth mother. Haunted by memories of past
life, his visions become an obsession and a mystery to be solved with modern
technology.
A
good cast is led by Patel and Nicole Kidman as the adoptive mother. The story recalls such epic films as Empire of the Sun and A Boy Ten Feet Tall with a young boy
challenged without his natural parents and traveling great distances for
salvation. Beautifully shot, the locations here become a supporting character. It is this long, emotional journey back to his
beginnings, this self discovery that makes
his journey ours as well.
***1/2
of **** stars
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