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Brooke Smith, Glenne Headly, Irfan Khan

"The Namesake" is the story of the Ganguli family whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act to meld to a new world without forgetting the old. Although parents Ashoke and As...( read more  read more... )hima long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children. Paradoxically, their son Gogol is torn between finding his own unique identity without losing his heritage. Even Gogol's name represents the family's journey into the unknown.

Flixster Users

78% liked it

59,483 ratings

Critics

85% liked it

122 critics

PG-13, 2 hrs. 2 min.

Directed by: Mira Nair

Release Date: December 31, 2006

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DVD Release Date: November 27, 2007

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Stats: 4,703 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (4,703)

  • susanriley
    October 16, 2008
    susanriley
    Not as good as I had anticipated, but I may have fallen victim to trailer marketing - I think just expected a different film based on the preview.
  • franktowers
    September 16, 2008
    franktowers
    good good
  • Jungian
    April 19, 2008
    Jungian
    Pretty good. Maybe a little too sentimental but a good effort nonetheless.
  • clooneyfan
    March 23, 2008
    clooneyfan
    I am a big fan of the movie "Bend It Like Beckham". This movie was a little slower paced but it went more into detail of the different Indian rites (wedding, funeral, etc). Interesting shots of India as well.
  • limoradalloway
    February 13, 2008
    limoradalloway
    A very thoughtful contribution to film and culture.
  • ristrawn
    October 20, 2009
    ristrawn
    good & real about an Indian family cultural traditions & the meaning & importance of one's name... some emotional connections of death & acclimating to a new culture...
  • ccathrine
    October 18, 2009
    ccathrine
    A moving and brilliantly woven story, exploring the different identity challenges faced by people throughout their lives. By using the example of an ethnic minority immigrant, his wife and their children, the issues are thrown in to stark contracts, but many are applicable to us...( read more) all. However, given the film covers such a long period in only a couple of hours, characters are not as well developed as in other well executed dramas, and the focus itself wavers unpredictably between characters, leaving the viewer somewhat disoriented, and dulling the emotional impact. Still, it is an ambitious film and delivers well.
  • dmmiller6
    October 6, 2009
    dmmiller6
    I watched the movie and I got the undertanding that it is a life changing event. When you are born and rised a certain way well a certain religion then that's what you know. When that family decided to move to United States that made there culture not change but be indecisive to ...( read more)their son that was born in the United States. He was not interested in learning about their culture because it was not konwn to him and he was not brought up around it, so he gave them a hard time. The movie was related to world religion by means of the family started out by using their religion and the mother and father got married and moved to better there life. They did proceed to use there religion as a way of life, but there son wasn't making it easy. In the end of the movie the son did come to the realization that it was a good idea to learn about his culture.
  • allewis2682
    September 25, 2009
    allewis2682
    The Namesake

    The movie relates to world religion in a cultural way. At first Ashima and Ashoke are brought together in an arranged marriage. Soon after their married they leave their cultural background in Calcutta to move to American to try for a better and wealthier life. A...( read more)merica is a whole new life style for the couple. As they get accustomed to there new culture they bring a child into the world. They try to teach him his cultural and religious background as he is growing up, but he has not interest. As he has no interest in his culture he no longer has interest in his name Gogol and change sit to nick. Later in the movie nick meets a girl named Moushumi, she has an Indian background) and starts to be uncertain about his culture and starts to think of his Indian culture. This is part of world religion because it shows people entering new cultures and learning from their past cultures and gaining from their new culture.

    The namesake reminded me of the world today. In some countries there are still arranged marriages such as Calcutta. I certainly don?t agree with them but they are still out there. I believe you should marry the one you find and fall in love with. It surprised me that Ashima and Ashoke would leave their country and try to make a life by themselves in America. I believe things worked out for them in many ways. One way it didn?t though was when their child was growing up he gave them a lot of trouble about not wanting to learn about his native culture. Toward the end of the movie things turned around and he started to realize he needed to know about his nationality.
  • magnolia12883
    September 23, 2009
    magnolia12883
    Mira Nair's epic is a tale of strangers in a strange land, of coming to terms with your roots, and of the changes within a family over time. Ashoke Ganguli (Irrfan Khan) is a Calcutta student whose parents arrange a marriage to Ashima (Tabu), a lovely and well-read young woman. H...( read more)e is a student in New York and takes his new bride to the big, cold city to start a life together. Before long, they have two children who grow up before their very eyes. Sonia (Sahira Nair, the director's niece) is a pretty but shiftless teenage girl, and her brother Gogol (Kal Penn of "Harold & Kumar" fame) is a typical, modern American teenage boy, teased over his name (even his sister calls him "Goggles") and seemingly embarrassed by his heritage. A family trip back to India, featuring a visit to the Taj Mahal, is a key turning point: Gogol, who has a penchant for drawing, wants to be an architect - just like his father aspired to be. Gogol changes his name to Nikhil (he's named after the obscure Russian writer) and is off in New York, where he falls for a pretty blonde called Max (Jacinda Barrett), short for Maxine. Friends and acquaintances are made, with Gogol becoming close with Max's family (her mother is played by Glenne Headly) and Ashima becoming a librarian (her colleague is played by Brooke Smith). Before long, Gogol's parents are put off by his independence of spirit, but after a time, eventually will come around ("Times are changing," Ashima muses). His father, meanwhile, tries to explain to him the importance of his name (an early scene of a train wreck and some brief flashbacks later on figure in), but he just doesn't seem to appreciate it till it's too late. After a family tragedy, Nikhil (Penn) runs back regretfully into the "old ways" - shaves his head, insists on being called Gogol again (once his "pet name," now his "good name") and shuts Max out. Will they get back together? In the interim, he falls for a Bengali girl named Moushumi (Zuleikha Robinson), a sexy student of all-things French who had a brief, shy and near-silent run-in with Gogol in their youth. They are married, and life takes yet another turn. 'Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows. Mira Nair is the wondrous Indian filmmaker who came on the scene with "Salaam Bombay!" (1988), continued with "Mississippi Masala" (1991) and would go on to make the wonderfully Altman-esque native film "Monsoon Wedding" (2001) and the epic adaptation of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" (2004) with Reese Witherspoon. She is comfortable in English and Hindi with subtitles, has worked with unknowns and movie stars alike; she once directed Denzel Washington in an early role ("Mississippi Masala") and Uma Thurman in the TV film "Hysterical Blindness" (2001). In Penn, she has found a decently known performer who can play his part well and isn't a million miles removed from his character's experience - an Indian twenty-something born in America. I was most moved, however, by the performances of Tabu and Khan. They manage to go from being young in an arranged marriage, to eventually an older and loving couple raising two kids in a strange country. They are warm, sweet and completely believable. The screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, doesn't really have a plot, is episodic in nature, uses the metaphor of the name and its meaning as a theme more than a plot point, has the feel at times of a slice-of-life, yet manages to wring the contours of melodrama out of it. In its tale of generational differences among a family of immigrants in America, I was somewhat reminded of Gregory Nava's wonderful film "My Family" (1995), as well as Nancy Savoca's "Household Saints" (1993) for its portrayal of traditional values vs. the independence of youth (though there, it was the child who was more "traditional" and here it's vice-versa). If the film has a flaw, it's a technical one at the screenplay level: it seems to start from Ashoke's point of view, before shifting first to Ashima, then to Gogol for a long time, and ending again with Ashima. Perhaps it is in fact about everyone, but to me it felt a bit muddled in that way. Nevertheless, Nair has made a moving and thoughtful tribute to a specific immigrant experience.

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Critic Reviews

December 7, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

What holds it together are the subtle loving performances by Tabu and Khan, both Bollywoood stars. They never overplay, never spell out what can be said in a glance or a shrug, communicate great passi... full review

March 26, 2007
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

The Ganguli's become real people; we experience with the Ganguli's the joy of life and the pain of death and all that comes in between -- nothing earth-shattering, but altogether true. full review

March 16, 2007
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The Namesake has a deep, alluvial poetry to it, like a mighty river reaching the sea. It's mysterious and ordinary, insightful and banal, rambling and precise, and it is altogether unexpected. full review

March 16, 2007
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

[Director] Nair and screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala bring the novel's velvety heart to the screen. The film glides smoothly over the years, touching down to give us the vignettes that make up a life. full review

March 9, 2007
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Nair has taken a fascinating piece of literature and woven a rich cultural tapestry for the screen. The Namesake elicits laughter and tears in its profound and emotionally resonant family portrait. full review

March 8, 2007
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

This sweet, but not cloying, adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's delicate novel brings us some wonderful moments. full review

March 8, 2007
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

A saga of the immigrant experience that captures the snap, crackle and pop of American life, along with the pounding pulse, emotional reticence, volcanic colors and cherished rituals of Indian culture. full review

March 7, 2007
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

This is a generational family saga everyone can relate to, and Nair gives it her special magic. full review

View more The Namesake reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • shortsweet286
    January 7, 2009
    shortsweet286
    I LOVED THIS MOVIE!! AND I LIKE KAL PENN
  • TheNarratorX
    April 14, 2007
    TheNarratorX
    Rani Mukherjee wasn't in this movie.
  • ikjotrana
    April 6, 2007
    ikjotrana
    nice movie all acted well specially irfaan khan.
    gets quite emotional in the second half but wat i've really liked was that in sum parts it was funny too.
    but i think the book's better!!!!
  • mandy28227
    March 23, 2007
    mandy28227
    Haven't seen it
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  • A smug, self-centered TV weatherman on a remote fieldtrip assignmant to cover an annual ceremony involving his namesake, a weather predicting groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil, finds himself inexplicably trapped in a hellish replay of the same 24hs...'till love wins out'???  Answer »
  • After which famous Russian novelist has named a father his son in the Mira Nair's movie The Namesake?  Answer »
  • I was based VERY loosely off of a real court case made against a local water company, revolving around a chemical being thrown into the town's water. (HINT: The "loose" part comes in with the title's namesake not being as wild as she is portrayed in reality). What am I?  Answer »
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