West is West

Here's the story in a nutshell: Asian Indian young man from Bombay comes to America on a one-month visa, finds out his sponsors have skipped town, and roams San Francisco looking for a super cheap motel. He eventually finds one ($15 bucks a night, plus cockroaches) and gets a job working the motel office graveyard shift. In the meantime, the INS suit and ties are hot on his trail. But then boy meets American girl (no big surprise), and begs her to marry him so he can stay in good ol' USA. West is West may have bizarre characters added to its mix and a few unexpected side trips (the two do end up getting married in an impromptu wedding on the curbside), but overall this movie's plot is as simple as its title. Predictable is still predictable. Not recommended. (M. K. Lau)[DVD Review--March 22, 2005--Milestone/Image, 80 min., not rated, $29.99--Making its debut on DVD, 1987's West Is West is presented in a so-so full screen transfer (maintaining the original aspect ratio) and a Dolby Digital mono soundtrack. DVD extras include two early (and unexceptional) short films--"Henry's River" and "Distant Traveller" by director David Rathod, and a pair of brief new featurettes in which the director looks at the changes in the S.F. locations where the film was shot and talks about the cast, as well as a DVD-ROM-accessible press kit. Bottom line: the mediocre transfer doesn't help a predictable film that looked amateurish to begin with, and the extras don't really add all that much. Not a necessary purchase.]