Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Jan 22, 2014lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Well, they can't be all 4 and 5 star reviews. That's not to say this isn't a good, inspiring movie about an incredible man, but it's not without its flaws. Like most great man biopics, the central figure comes off as heroic and almost free from the usual faults of humanity. Ben Kingsley, in an Oscar winning performance, bears an uncanny resemble to Gandhi and is very good, but the character, as written, is a little one-note and despite the prominent supporting cast (Martin Sheen, John Gielgud, Candice Bergen), no one else really emerges as a complex character. The first half, which covers his lawyer days in South Africa, is the most engrossing, but it starts to drag in its final hour. The independence and partition of India is a fascinating subject, but the film doesn't do justice to it, nor to the figure of Nehru. Fun fact 1: two of the Indian actors in this also appear in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Fun fact 2: Daniel Day-Lewis appears as a racist thug in an early scene.