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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2017)
January 25, 2017 The Skanner Page 7 FILM REVIEW: Curious Adoptee Tracks Down Birth-Mom in ‘Lion’ By Kam Williams For The Skanner News S aroo (Dev Patel) had the mis- fortune of being born into poverty in India’s Khandwa district. He lived there with his single-mom, Kamla (Priyanka Bose), along with his big brother, Guddu (Abhishek Bharate), and younger sister, Shekila (Khushi Solanki). His illiterate mother was re- duced to carrying rocks for a liv- ing, and she could barely afford to keep a roof over their heads. So, when Guddu found a night job hauling bales of hay, Saroo leapt at the chance to contribute, too, even though he was obviously a little small. And he promptly fell asleep af- ter the long ride to the worksite sitting on his brother’s bike’s handlebars. “It’s my fault,” Guddu lamented, before leaving Saroo alone to spend the night on a train station bench. Trouble is, when Guddu failed to return by daybreak, the frantic 5 year-old inadvertently stowed away aboard a freight train head- ed to Bengal, a port-of-call 1,600 miles east. Upon arriving, Saroo couldn’t get any help from strang- ers, between his not speaking the language and his mispronouncing the name of his hometown, “Ga- nestalay.” Consequently, he ended up strug- gling to survive on the streets un- til he landed in a local orphanage. Since Saroo didn’t know his own Dev Patel plays Saroo who finds his birth mother in India. last name or where he was from, he was ultimately shipped off to Melbourne to meet Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John Brierley (David Wenham), an Australian couple eager to adopt him. For the next quarter-century, he enjoyed an idyllic life, wheth- er playing cricket, swimming in a cove off the ocean, or dating Lucy (Rooney Mara), a lovely Aussie lassie. All was well until the fate- ful evening a childhood memory was triggered during a dinner of Indian food. Suddenly curious about his roots, Saroo was subsequently en- couraged by Lucy to use Google Earth to find the spot on the plan- et that he hailed from. Once he recognized a few familiar places from his formative years, all that was left to do was to hop back on a plane and re- unite with his long-lost family. Adapted from Saroo Brierley’s autobiography, “A Long Way Home,” "Lion" is a heartbreaking biopic that definitely packs an emotional punch, thanks to pow- erful performances by Sunny Pawar and Dev Patel as the young and adult Saroo, respectively. The supporting cast features equal- ly-evocative turns by Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman as the women who played pivotal roles in the protagonist’s life Down Under. A bittersweet variation on the “I was lost, but now I’m found” theme of the parable of the Prodigal Son. Excellent HHHH Rated PG-13 for mature themes and some sensu- ality Movies cont’d from pg 6 The Salesman (PG-13 for mature themes and a brief bloody image) Crime thriller, set in Tehran, about an Iranian couple (Taraneh Alidoo- sti and Shahab Hossei- ni), appearing in a local production of Death of a Salesman, whose rela- tionship is tested when the wife is raped right af- ter they move into a new apartment. With Babak Karimi, Mina Sadati and Emad Emami. (In Persian with subtitles) Un Padre No Tan Pa- dre (PG-13 for profanity, drug use and partial nu- dity) Dysfunctional fami- ly comedy about a cranky 85 year-old (Hector Bo- nilla) forced to move into his long-estranged son’s (Benny Ibarra) hippie commune after getting kicked out of his retire- ment home. Support cast includes Zamia Fandino, Camila Selser and Edu- ardo Tanus. (In Spanish with subtitles) SHOWTIMES A MONSTER CALLS (PG-13) Fri-Thur: 11:30, 4:10 NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (R) Fri-Thur: 11:20, 6:30, 9:00 FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (PG-13) Fri-Thur: 11:40, 2:25, 4:00, 6:45 Arts & Entertainment FILM REVIEW: ‘20th Century Women’ a Vivid Triptych of Personal Portraits The Week of Friday, Jan. 27 through Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017 DOCTOR STRANGE (PG-13) Fri,Mon-Thur: 1:45, 7:15, 9:30 Sat: 1:45, 7:15 TROLLS (PG) Fri-Thur: 1:55 THEM! (1954) (NR) Fri-Thur: 5:10, 9:40 $4.00 adults, $3.00 senior citizens (65+), $3.00 for kids (12 & under) 7818 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97215 503-252-1707 • AcademyTheaterPdx.com Babysitting: Available for children 2 to 8 years old. Fri: shows after 3:30pm and before 8:00pm. Sat - Sun: all shows before 8:00pm. $9.50 per child for the length of the movie. Call to reserve a spot, no drop ins. ‘20th Century Women’ is set in 70’s Santa Barbara. By Kam Williams For The Skanner News W ritten and directed by Mike Mills (Be- ginners), "20th Century Women" is an inter-generational coming-of-age tale set in Santa Barbara, California in 1979. The nostalgic ensemble drama revolves around the ef- forts of a neurotic single-mom (Annette Bening) to parent a naive 15 year-old (Lucas Jade Zumann) in dire need of a role model. The picture’s protagonist is Dorothea Fields, a middle-aged chain-smoker who owns the dilapi- dated rooming house where the bulk of the story is set. Paradoxically, she recruits a couple of con- siderably-younger women, Abbie (Greta Gerwig) See REVIEW on page 11