The Namesake

Both episodic and lacking in dramatic urgency, this tepid drama based on the fine novel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri serves up a story of second-generation Indian immigrants struggling to find their places in American society. The Namesake begins in the late 1970s, as apprehensive young wife Ashima (played by Indian star Tabu) arrives in Queens, NYC with new husband Ashoke (Irfan Khan), a coolly cerebral engineer to whom she was betrothed in an arranged marriage. Lonely and isolated, Ashima nevertheless grudgingly acclimates herself to American society, and before long is raising a young son in a suburban home in an Indian diaspora community that maintains ties to the homeland while prospering in the U.S. Years later, her son Gogol (Kal Penn) rejects his Indian heritage in an attempt to fit in, become hip, and date a cute American girl (Jacinda Barrett). Director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay) tries to dramatize the age-old dilemma confronting the children of immigrants forced to straddle the fence that separates old-world tradition from new-world modernity, but in the end The Namesake disappoints as drama. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Mira Nair, “The Anatomy of The Namesake: A Class at Columbia University's Graduate Film School (32 min.), an eight-minute “Photography as Inspiration” featurette, the Fox Movie Channel presentation “In Character with Kal Penn” (4 min.), a “Kolkata Love Poem” music montage (4 min.), three deleted scenes with optional commentary (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an uneven film.] (E. Hulse)