Lion

Once again we enter the world of films based on true stories as we have seen many times in the past. The range of different people and events that have captured the attention of many a Hollywood writer is both intriguing and, in many cases, unforgettable. Now we are offered "Lion", a film based on a true story of survival, discovery and closure.

In this adaptation of the memoir "The Long Way Home" by Saroo Brierley, a five-year-old Indian boy, Saroo (Sunny Pawar) is adopted by an Australian couple, Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John (David Wenham) after he gets lost from his brother, Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) in Calcutta. He ends up being put on a train traveling thousands of miles from home with many challenges along the way.

As much as 20 years later, Saroo (Dev Patel) struggles with his memories of his birth family and decides, through his girlfriend, Lucy (Rooney Mara) to begin an exhaustive search for them. He loves his adoptive family, however he must find his biological family in order to achieve the closure he truly needs.

Others to rounds out the cast are Priyanka Bose as Kamla, birth mother of Saroo, Tannishtha Chatterjee as Noor and Divian Ladma as Mantosh, Saroo's adoptive brother.

This was soulfully directed in a heartfelt way by Garth Davis ("P.I.N.S." (Documentary) 2000) plus TV. This filmmaker doesn't have a plethora of experience, but after watching this, this guy has quite the future in Hollywood. The emotions in these characters ranged from a slow crawl to a gallop within the same scene. It was creatively written by Luke Davies ("Candy" '06, "Reclaim" '14, "Life" '15) plus a short. I've never read Saroo Brierley's memoir, but Davies certainly gave us a heartfelt screenplay that was adventurous, intensely dramatic and allowed us to somewhat step in the same shoes of Saroo and what he must've gone through considering the separation from his family, the adoption from Sue and John and the subsequent turmoil he went through to reconnect with his biological family once again. Other than a couple of small places of slowness in script, this screenplay was intense, concise and cohesive.

This is a film not so much as entertaining, but one where we are allowed to witness the riggers of what this child and man had to endure in order to find the closure he so desperately needed to obtain that happiness everyone strives to obtain given the same situation.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                 Rated: PG-13                                   118mins.