movie review of baghban

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Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Ravi Chopra

Amitabh Bachchan

Raj Malhotra

Hema Malini

Pooja Malhotra

Salman Khan

Mahima Chaudhary

Ajay Malhotra

Baghban Review

22 Oct 2003

182 minutes

Ubiquitous Hindi film issues such as circumstance and sentiment are delicately encapsulated in Ravi Chopra's neatly-packaged but forlorn family drama, which attempts to reform one of Bollywood cinema's abandoned narratives. Such an age-old concept, therefore, has to work hard to win over a modern audience and Chopra's effort succeeds because of its rich emotional appeal.

After 40 years of marriage, Raj (Bachchan) and his wife (Malini) settle down for retirement, but when their four grown-up sons shirk their filial duties, who's going to look after them? Thanks to Chopra's unfussy direction and some mesmerising performances, this poignant effort truly blends a romantic story with moments of emotion and humour.

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Reviews in chronological order (Total 5 reviews)

Unknownusers, submitted by v.rajesh on 06/10/2003 05:48.

10 June 2003 5:48AM

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Submitted by Murali Mohan on 06/10/2003 18:18

10 June 2003 6:18PM

Submitted by Kute Harami on 07/11/2003 12:28

11 July 2003 12:28PM

Submitted by Andrew on 18/10/2003 09:23

18 October 2003 9:23AM

Submitted on 20/10/2003 19:39

20 October 2003 7:39PM

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Baghban 03/Oct/2003 3h 3m

Critics: 3 Panel: 0 User: 6

Overall: 3.8 from 9 users

Synopsis/Plot :

Director : Ravi Chopra

Music Director : Aadesh Shrivastava, Uttam Singh

Cast More Cast & Crew (7)

+ Add Review

Photo Gallery View all photos (7)

Critics Review

Healthy family entertainer.

Amitabh Bachchan delivers a scintillating performance. Hema Malini looks gorgeous even in her old age. The chemistry between Amitabh and Hema is still groovy. Baghban is rich in emotional drama that is likely to reducer a viewer to tears. The movie is replete with some moving sequences. (more)

Source: Editorial Board, Apunkachoice

Dream of a father fulfiled by his son

Baghban scores in various aspects. The story by B R Chopra and written by Dr Achala Nagar may be age-old, but still comes across as fresh and relevant even today in the day and age of nuclear families and children who don't think beyond themselves. (more)

Source: Kshama Rao, Glamsham.com

Works because of its appeal

BAGHBAN has strong emotions as its trump card, which will appeal to the family audience more than the youth. At the box-office, if the word of mouth catches on, this 'gardener' [BAGHBAN] will be rewarded with fruits, like its predecessors. (more)

Source: Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama

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Release date: 03 October, 2003 -->

Baghban movie.

Baghban is the journey of two extremely loving parents who are betrayed by their sons for their selfish motives.

Raj and Pooja have been the ideal couple enjoying their life with their four sons, three daughters in law, two grandchildren and their adopted son Alok. But when Raj announces his retirement, ...  his sons hatch a plan to keep their parents away from each other to fulfill their selfish motives. While staying alone with their kids, Raj and Pooja come across their kids' greed and selfish motives. They decide to live a life together away from them and while exploring the world alone they cross paths with their adopted Alok who is living a blissful life with wife Arpita. Alok who worships his parents, encourages his father Raj to restart his life with a different perspective.

On The Sets Of The Film Baghban Featuring Hema Malini,Amitabh Bachchan

Articles (3).

20 Years of Baghban EXCLUSIVE: “After its release, suddenly there was a spike in senior citizens taking insurance for themselves and not for their children” – Samir Soni

20 years of Baghban: Here’s why this is Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini’s most influential film

20 Years of Baghban: Lyricist Sameer reveals he narrated the song ‘Main Yahaan Tu Wahaan’ a few days after the demise of B R Chopra’s wife: “He started crying on hearing the first line. He felt as if I had written the song keeping him and his deceased wife in mind”

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• Amitabh Bachchan (Hero)
• Salman Khan (Hero)
• Hema Malini (Heroine)
• Ravi Chopra (Director)
• Aadesh Shrivastava (Music Director)
• B. R. Chopra (producer)

Watch Trailer

Baghban is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Ravi Chopra, co-written and produced by B. R. Chopra. It tells the story of an elderly couple, Raj (Amitabh Bachchan) and Pooja (Hema Malini), who have been married for 40 years. After Raj retires, they reunite with their four sons (Aman Verma, Samir Soni, Saahil Chadha, and Nasir Khan) to discuss who will support them. None of the sons want to take care of both parents, causing Raj and Pooja to live separately.

Raj and his wife, Pooja, have been married for 40 years and have four sons: Ajay, Sanjay, Rohit, and Karan. They also have an adopted son, Alok, who falls in love with Arpita. Raj provides the orphaned Alok with money and education, raising him as his own son. Now successful, Alok venerates Raj because of his help. Raj retires and cannot support himself; he and Pooja decide to leave their home. They want to live with their children, who are unwilling. The children decide to split their parents up; each lives with one of the boys for the next six months. They think that their parents will refuse the offer and remain in their home. However, Raj and Pooja reluctantly accept the offer.

They endure separation and poor treatment by their children. Raj stays first with Sanjay, and then with Rohit; Pooja stays first with Ajay, and then with Karan. While he is living with Sanjay, the only affection Raj receives is from his grandson Rahul. Saddened by the way he has been treated by his children, Raj writes about how he fulfilled his children’s dreams and his treatment in return; he also writes about his love for his wife, and the pain their separation has caused. Raj’s writing eventually becomes a novel. Pooja is abused by Ajay, her daughter-in-law Kiran, and her granddaughter Payal. Payal, however, repents when Pooja saves her from being raped by her boyfriend and showers Pooja with love.

Changing trains after six months, Pooja and Raj spend time together in Vijaynagar. They encounter Alok, who brings them to his home and cares for them far better than how their sons had treated them in their homes. Raj learns that his writings have been published as Baghban, named after Hemant (a café owner whom he befriended during his stay with Sanjay). He also befriended two teenagers named Kapil and Nilli who had visited the café often. The novel is successful, giving Raj the money he needs to support himself and Pooja.

Knowing that their parents are earning more than them due to the launch success of the novel, the four sons plan to go to their book ceremony event for forgiveness. Everyone goes except Rahul and Payal because of the pain their grandparents went through and that the four sons are only going there just for their money not forgiveness. Their sons ask their parents to forgive them, attending a book ceremony with their wives. Raj and Pooja refuse to forgive the four sons, however, and disown them for the pain they have caused. Raj and Pooja are then approached by both Rahul and Payal and hug them happily with Alok and Arpita smiling.

More Details

Latest News on Baghban

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20 Years Of Baghban - 5 Iconic Moments From Baghban Movie

Pooja opens the door before raj can knock.

In the opening scene, Pooja (Hema Malini) opens the door for Raj (Amitabh Bachchan) before he has a chance to knock. Not just this, she has already made tea for him, right before his arrival.

Fasting Together for Karva Chauth

Raj and Pooja fast together for Karva Chauth even when they are miles apart. There's no food at home for Raj and he pretends to eat over the phone to ensure Pooja doesn't stay hungry for his sake.

Pooja Reads Raj's Letter

Pooja, discovers a series of heartbreaking letters written by her husband Raj, expressing his feelings of loneliness and neglect.

Raj's Reading Glasses Break

Raj's reading glasses break and his son puts off getting them repaired claiming to be out of money. Raj's grandson spends the money he's given to buy new shoes for school to fix his grandfather's glasses.

Raj's Monologue

Raj delivers a powerful and emotional monologue in the film where he expresses the pain and heartbreak of being abandoned by his own children. This moment highlights the emotional core of the movie.

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Directed by Ravi Chopra

Can you depend on your family?

After dedicating their whole life in upbringing their children, elderly couple Raj Malhotra and Pooja gets homeless. Instead of caring, their children treat them as a burden.

Amitabh Bachchan Hema Malini Salman Khan Mahima Chaudhry Paresh Rawal Lillete Dubey Sharat Saxena Rimi Sen Sanjeeda Sheikh Aman Verma Samir Soni Saahil Chadha Nasirr Khan Suman Ranganathan Divya Dutta Yash Pathak Mohan Joshi Nakul Vaid Avtar Gill Govardhan Asrani Gajendra Chouhan Anang Desai

Director Director

Ravi Chopra

Producers Producers

Bharat Shah B.R. Chopra

Writers Writers

Satish Bhatnagar B.R. Chopra Achala Nagar Ram Govind Shafiq Ansari

Cinematography Cinematography

Barun Mukherjee

Assistant Director Asst. Director

Vishal Desai

Camera Operator Camera Operator

Vinayak Radhakrishnan

Art Direction Art Direction

Keshto Mandal

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Mahesh Baria

Choreography Choreography

Vaibhavi Merchant

Composers Composers

Aadesh Shrivastava Uttam Singh

Songs Songs

Sameer Anjaan Hassan Kamal

Sound Sound

Ajay Kumar P. B. Asif Ali Khan

Releases by Date

03 oct 2003, releases by country.

• Theatrical U

183 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Numaira ★

oh this senior citizen propaganda

Review by Ahmar ½

This is not a movie it is a weapon

Review by mina ♡

brown parent emotional manipulation: the movie

Review by abortedamyadams ★

for the brown kids out there yall remember when back in the days they used to show this film on cable every weekend and we used to get side-eyed by our parents while bachan and hema's kids were treating them like shit??? like amma what did i do I'm 12 for god's sake???????

Review by chicken_nudget ½ 2

Your parents didn't do you a favour by bringing you up, they brought you into this world for their satisfaction, to fulfill their will to parent. I'm tired of thankless old Indians watching this movie and relating to this bullshit, trying to teach kid to give them love, while they weren't there when they were needed the most.

Review by rahulwithraj ★★½ 1

Baghban is to parents, what Taare Zameen Par is to their children.

Review by Homelander ★

porn for old indians

Review by Joras.solo 1

15 year old me would have given this movie 5 stars.

Review by Ramish ★★½

If you’re parents didn’t sit you down and make you watch this are you even desi?

Review by BenjiChino ★★½

“Dad can you please not use a typewriter in the middle of the night, my wife has to wake up early”

“My children hate me”

Review by shraavan ★

this is why you should not have more than 1 kid @brown parents

Review by chazelled ½

porn for desi parents.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

• An elderly couple wish their children to care for them in their old age. But their children see and treat them as a burden, and they must struggle to regain their worth and dignity to themselves and others.
• Raj Malhotra and wife Pooja have four sons. The sons have settled down professionally and are quite independent. However, when Raj Malhotra retires, none of his children want to be burdened with the responsibility of taking care of their parents. Strangely, it is the adopted son who proves to be the most kind hearted of them all. Salman's girlfriend eventually marries him. The question is, will Raj and Pooja's sons learn the folly of their ways and turn over a new leaf? — gavin@[email protected]
• Raj Malhotra alias Raju is employed as an accountant in a bank and has been married to Pooja for 40 years. The couple has four sons and struggles to bring them up as well as make them independent, settled and successful individuals in life in which they eventually succeed after numerous efforts. When it is time for Raju to retire he is given a warm farewell by the bank's staff and plans to utilize his retirement days in the company of his children quite unfortunately the children uses this opportunity to separate this loving couple. Their adopted overseas return son, Alok and his wife arrive just in time to not only rescue but unite them together forever as well as give them the love and respect they expect from their biological children. — gavin ([email protected])
• Bank employee Raj Malhotra and his beautiful wife Pooja have been married for the past 40 years and have 4 sons, 3 of whom are married. They also have an adopted son Alok settled overseas who worships Raj above everything. Their sons, although independent, want no connections with their parents, except if it's a huge Gratuity or Provident Fund amount to be distributed since Raj is about to retire. To their sons' shock, Raj and Pooja have spent every penny on their sons' requirements and desire to spend what's left of their life with their children and grandchildren. Viewing their own parents as a liability, the sons plan a scheme which they believe their parents would reject: Raj will stay at one son's house for 6 months and Pooja at other's and post 6 months they shall proceed to stay with their other sons. Reluctantly, they agree. Its during Raj's stay with his son that he's prompted by kind restauranter friends Hemant & Shanti to start penning his life. Pooja on her part is able to make her granddaughter realise her love as the latter finally starts seeing her parents' reality. It's at the end of 6 months when Raj and Pooja, finally reunited after secretly declining to proceed to their other sons', with help from Alok and Hemant would teach their sons a lesson they'll remember, forever. — ankit-singh92
• Raj Malhotra and his wife Pooja have raised a family of four sons who are now nicely settled in their respective professions. Their life is filled with love and prosperity, and all this has been possible because Raj has invested all his income including his provident fund and gratuity who according to him are his assets that would secure his future. But when he retires, life suddenly changes. None of the four sons is ready to take their parents responsibility. To the extent Raj and Pooja then depend on the kindness of strangers. How Raj Malhotra through strife and hardship overcomes this turmoil and comes up a winner is central crux of Baghban. — Anonymous
• The movie tells the story of Raj Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan), his wife Pooja (Hema Malini) and their four sons Ajay (Aman Verma), Sanjay (Samir Soni), Rohit (Saahil Chadda), and Karan (Nasir Kazi). Raj and Pooja have provided their children with everything they wanted, often at the cost of Raj's and Pooja's own requirements. The Malhotras also have an adopted son Alok (Salman Khan), who is in love with Arpita (Mahima Chaudhry) (both in special appearances). Alok was an orphan and Raj had provided him with money and education, bringing him up as his own son. Now a successful man, Alok worships Raj because of all his help and thinks him as his own father which he never had. Raj has a flourishing job but, once he retires, he is no longer able to support himself and has to vacate the house he and Pooja have shared for years. They decide to live with their kids to get their love and affection. However, their kids do not want them, as they think looking after their parents will be a hassle. The children decide to split the parents up, each parent going to live with one of the sons for the next 6 months. The children think the parents will refuse the offer and therefore, they will remain in their home. However, the parents reluctantly accept the offer. The story shows how the aged parents endure this separation as well as horrible treatment from their children after all they have sacrificed for them during their lifetime. Their grandson, Rahul, is the only one who gives Raj love and affection. Saddened by the treatment he has received from his children and their families, Raj writes down all his feelings regarding how he fulfilled all his children's dreams and in return how they treat him, as well as his love for his wife, and how much pain their separation has caused, his writing eventually becoming a novel. To pass time in the lonesome and angry house he temporarily lives in, he makes friends that admire him and regard him more than Raj's own sons. Pooja, meanwhile, endures abuse from her son and daughter-in-law, as well as her granddaughter, Payal. Payal, though, realizes her mistake when Pooja saves her from her boyfriend's sexual advances, and nurtures Pooja with love. While changing their trains after 6 months, Raj and Pooja spend some time together in Mumbai, when they suddenly meet Alok, who takes them to his home and gives them the importance and care which their real sons did not give them. Raj then finds out that his writing has become a published book named Baghban. This book becomes a big hit, selling the first copies immediately. Raj, as a result, gains the money he needs to support himself and Pooja in their old age. Their four sons find out, and are irked by the fact that they are not receiving any money. They decide to ask their parents for forgiveness to achieve this end. Payal and Rahul, though, realize their true motives and refuse to come with their parents. Raj is honored for his work, and the four sons attend with their wives. When they ask Raj to forgive them, he refuses and instead disowns them. Not even Pooja will forgive her children for the pain they have put them through. Raj stays with Pooja in their home, near Alok and Arpita, and enjoy the company of Rahul and Payal, while disowning their sons and daughters-in-law for all eternity!

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Baghban: Release Date, Trailer, Songs, Cast

• Release Date 3 October 2003
• Language Hindi
• Genre Drama, Kids & Family
• Duration 3h 1min
• Cast Amitabh Bachchan , Hema Malini, Salman Khan, Mahima Chaudhry, Aman Verma, Samir Soni, Saahil Chadha, Nasir Khan, Divya Dutta, Suman Ranganathan, Rimi Sen, Paresh Rawal, Lillete Dubey, Mohan Joshi, Sharat Saxena, Arzoo Govitrikar, Anang Desai, Yash Pathak, Avtar Gill, Asrani, Gajendra Chauhan, Sanjeeda Sheikh
• Director Ravi Chopra
• Writer Shafiq Ansari, Satish Bhatnagar, B.R. Chopra
• Cinematography Barun Mukherjee
• Music Aadesh Shrivastava, Uttam Singh
• Producer B. R. Chopra
• Production B. R. Films
• Certificate U

About Baghban Movie (2003)

Raj (Amitabh Bachchan) and Pooja (Hema Malini) are now retired and looking for some support. When the couple contact their children, they are split up and moved around from one son’s home to another’s every six months, enduring disrespect and poor treatment in the course.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Baghban

In this Baghban film, Amitabh Bachchan , Hema Malini played the primary leads.

The Baghban was released in theaters on 03 Oct 2003.

The Baghban was directed by Ravi Chopra

Movies like Chhaava , Deva , Bad Newz and others in a similar vein had the same genre but quite different stories.

The soundtracks and background music were composed by Aadesh Shrivastav, Uttam Singh for the movie Baghban.

The movie Baghban belonged to the Family, genre.

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Ajay 1151 Days Ago

No words for this movie

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Review of Baghban

This is the kind of movie that makes my Mom cry and gets some of my professional friends to roll their eyes.     It is the story of a banking executive who spends his life investing in his kids and then struggles to connect with them upon his retirement.   Predictably, the kids are mean and the Dad is surprised at their meanness.  

While the storyline might be somewhat cliched for Bollywood fans, the movie makes a larger point about how the modern economic structure is affecting the traditional Indian family.    It is about the patriarch of the house sitting at the head of the table or not.   It is about teenagers having the freedom to stay out until midnight or not.   It is about what happens to Indian values when there is money and freedom.   The movie makes a case for values even in modern times, of course.  

This is a movie worth watching with your parents and grandparents.   If anything, it illustrates the inevitable generation gap between rugged individualism and benevolent collectivism.   Regardless of which side of the divide you fall on, this movie could be a great conversation starter.

December 11, 2006

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Baghban is a 2003 Bollywood drama film directed by Ravi Chopra, featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini in lead roles. Aman Verma, Samir Soni, Saahil Chadha anad Nasir Kazi portray their four sons. Salman Khan, Mahima Chaudhry, Paresh Rawal, Rimi Sen and Lilette Dubey are featured in supporting roles. It is an unofficial adaptation of the 1937 movie Make Way for Tomorrow and many scenes and the plot of the film were also inspired by the 1958 Kannada film 'School Master'. The film is a remake of the 1983 Hindi film 'Avtaar' starring Rajesh Khanna and Shabana Azmi. This film was remade in Kannada as 'Ee Bandhana' in 2007. Baghban was originally a remake of Oon Paoos, a Marathi film. The movie tells the story of Raj Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan), his wife Pooja (Hema Malini) and their four sons, who do not want to take care of them in their old age. Wikipedia

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Johnny Oleksinski

Demi moore’s nudity-packed horror film ‘the substance’ is the craziest thing i’ve ever seen, the substance.

Running time: 140 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violent content, gore, graphic nudity and language). In theaters Sept. 20.

One question repeatedly popped into my mind during “The Substance,” an outrageous and beyond bizarre horror movie that had its North American premiere Thursday night at the Toronto International Film Festival.

What’s wrong with these people?!

Our judgment begins with the damaged-to-deranged characters.

Elisabeth Sparkle, played to the hilt by Demi Moore (what’s wrong with her?!), is an Oscar winner turned fading fitness guru a la Suzanne Somers whose luxurious Hollywood home is plastered with giant portraits of her in her prime. 

After Elisabeth is abruptly fired from her TV job, “Sparkle With Elizabeth,” the gutted actress learns of an underground drug called the Substance that promises to create a younger, sexier doppelgänger of a person. A certifiable California narcissist, Elisabeth signs right up.

This is when we start to wonder what’s wrong with the astronomically talented and created writer-director Coralie Fargeat, whose French nightmares this astounding film surely sprang from.

When Elisabeth injects the plutonium-green Substance, her back gorily splits open, and her nubile clone pops out like a xenomorph in “Alien.” 

The one unbreakable rule, with gnarly consequences, is that the young counterpart can walk the earth for only seven days at a time — while Elisabeth basically hibernates — before they swap places again. 

Almost immediately, Liz’s piggish former boss (Dennis Quaid at his funniest) casts the gorgeous clone, who names herself Sue, as his hot new workout show host of a program called “Pump It Up.”

Elisabeth awakens only to be taunted by billboards and posters of Sue, and develops a love-hate relationship with her popular counterpart. 

Moore, at her most game and frequently unclothed, gives one of her best performances in years — going from It girl to Gollum in over two hours. Impeccable makeup and prosthetics help, but the true terror is created by her beneath the surface.

Qualley, by contrast, spends most of the film smiling and squatting — never boringly, mind you — but that shiny veneer conceals building resentment and darkness.

Opportunist Sue would rather not take a weeklong nap after seven days and goes to harmful extremes to stay awake. (Something is definitely wrong with her.) 

That leads to a Grand-Guignol finale so weird, warped and funny that we sit in awe of the fact that investors actually said, “Sure, we’ll pay for that.”

As for the audience, something is wrong with us, too. 

I enjoyed this ride of titillation, torment, insanity and exploitation to such a preposterous extent that I’ve considered signing up for online therapy to wrestle with it. 

Perhaps that’s because, as jaw-droppingly odd as it is, “The Substance” is part of a grand, campy tradition. The movie is the hotter, younger offshoot of “Death Becomes Her” and, being set in a two-woman LA household stewing with envy, even “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” 

By the end, it’s “Frankenstein” and “Young Frankenstein.”

Where Fargeat’s film distinguishes itself — and will send some viewers sprinting to the bathroom — is the amble body horror elements. 

Hers is a provocative, gruesome, bloody and, for some, nauseating movie that will be hugely controversial when it hits theaters later this month.

Much like the title drug, it’s hard to broadly recommend it without listing off a host of side effects. 

However, at the movies today, there is nothing wrong with unbound creativity, epic vision and some gonzo entertainment. 

And, by the way, in its smart send-up of our youth-obsessed culture, there’s even a little substance, too.

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‘Broken Rage’ Review: Takeshi Kitano Defies Expectations in a Gleefully Concise Yakuza Parody

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To be fair, the bait and switch is obvious from the jump. While the film’s first half is supposed to shoot straight as a hit-man thriller, the hired gun that shambles up to a Tokyo coffee shop walks on bow-legs, mugs like Buddy Hackett and sits below a ridiculous toupee — it’s Beat Takeshi! How grim can things get? 

One need hardly ask. Starting from a drier deadpan before rebooting into unbridled absurdity, “Broken Rage” is a concise lesson in parody, creating a simple form and then breaking it with the subtle force of a mallet smashing a watermelon. And so we go through the motions, checking off every box on the generic hit-man list. We follow Mr. Mouse (Kitano) from the coffee shop where he retrieves his mission, then to the hit, coordinated with a costumed escape, and finally back to his ascetic abode, where he sits with monk-like quiet until the next envelope arrives. 

The film is  already  quite funny as it finds the doughy hitman trailing a target at the gym and struggling to keep up on the treadmill. Or when, within the span of five screen minutes, the hitman gets pinched and interrogated by the cops, turned mole, and nearly instantly welcomed into the Yakuza after a staged bar brawl. The magic of the movies, the director is saying. Isn’t it something?

The answer is bedlam. Once the first half peters off with bad guys arrested and our valiant Mr. Mouse on top, we loop back the same opening establishing shot of Tokyo. Only instead of soaring into the city nightscape, the damn camera goes and falls off the rig  — only hinting at the anything-and-everything goes wrong barrage Kitano has in store. Initially recreating the first half scene-for-scene before very quickly goofing on that idea as well, Kitano uses our immediate familiarity to let chaos reign. The tone becomes slapstick on a near operatic scale — no scene complete without a pratfall, no pratfall accented without the loudest sound effect possible. Turning the film into a conduit for pure anarchic glee, Kitano gets about as close as possible to a live-action cartoon. 

As in the best farces, the filmmaker plays with formal irreverence as well. Kitano trolls himself as well, pointing out the budget gaps and shortcuts and generally limited means he had at his disposal. At several points the screen goes blank, the action replaced by text message commentary from jeering viewers. They go meta, complaining about the very interlude and diagnosing it as filler  — but then, movies  are  too long these days, so why not let this run out of steam?

It doesn’t — not at the pat and perfect 66 minute run time. Audiences get what they want and more — with time for dinner thrown in. And Kitano, who has threatened retirement for the past few years, can wind down with his comic skill uncontested. And if the film never quite works as the hard-hitting killer thriller originally promised, well, consider that one last parting troll. Comedy is easy; dying is hard. 

“Broken Rage” premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival . It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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Rebel Ridge Review: A Killer Action Thriller That Masterfully Builds Tension

One month into production, Jeremy Saulnier's new Netflix movie "Rebel Ridge" lost its star. Saulnier, who broke out in a big way with his second feature "Blue Ruin" and followed it up with the equally memorable "Green Room," had cast "Star Wars" actor John Boyega as the lead of his new action thriller. But then Boyega left the production, citing family reasons.  It seemed like a devastating blow: Boyega is an extremely talented actor, and the prospect of him working with a filmmaker like Saulnier was exciting. But now that "Rebel Ridge" is finally here, I can say that things worked out perfectly for the film, because Boyega's replacement, Aaron Pierre, is a movie star in the making. Pierre has appeared in Barry Jenkins' acclaimed Prime Video series "The Underground Railroad," and had a brief but memorable turn as rapper Mid-Sized Sedan in  M. Night Shyamalan's deliciously silly thriller "Old," but "Rebel Ridge" feels like the movie that will launch him into the stratosphere. He's electric here, commanding the screen with a tense physicalicity and a magnetic presence. We can't take our eyes off this guy; every move he makes has our attention. 

The only potential wrench in this star-making performance is the fact that "Rebel Ridge" is destined to go right to Netflix instead of theaters. It has been said that we don't really have movie stars anymore, not in the old fashioned sense at least, and I think the fact that so many movies get dumped onto streaming these days has something to do with that. You can't help but think that if "Rebel Ridge" had come out more than a decade ago, and played in movie theaters across the country, Pierre would blow up in a big way. I can only hope "Rebel Ridge" doesn't fall victim to Netflix's dreaded algorithm and get lost in the shuffle, because this baby deserves an audience. Saulnier, who specializes in movies about how violence begets violence, has crafted a meticulously engaging action thriller that builds, and builds, and builds. The first hour in particular is among one of the finest things Saulnier has created: a tense, fat-free, no-nonsense chain of events that draw us deeper and deeper into a story of one man with a particular set of skills pushed to the edge.

In press notes for the film, Saulnier speaks of "Rebel Ridge" as a throwback. "As a filmmaker, I dig grounded '80s and '90s action films that not only deliver on spectacle, but succeed in tying on-screen mayhem to a real and true emotional component," the director said. "Smaller scale, bigger impact. Less veneer, less artificiality. They're rooted in a 'kick up the dust' level of craft and authenticity that I don't see often in the current space, and I was interested in making a film more like that." It will be easy to compare "Rebel Ridge," which is ultimately about a military man facing off against villainous cops, to the original "Rambo" film, "First Blood." There are also shades of the first season of Prime Video's hit series "Reacher," as well as every Western you can think of about a mysterious gunslinger who rides into a small town and bucks up against the law. But Saulnier isn't being derivative. He's putting his own unique spin on this sort of story, and the results are killer.

Rebel Ridge is about a loner battling corrupt cops

As "Rebel Ridge" begins, Pierre's character, Terry Richmond, is riding his bike into the small Southern town of Shelby Springs. Wearing earbuds, Terry is unaware that a cop car is slowly creeping up behind him. And then —  WHAM!  The car deliberately hits Terry, knocking him off his bike. Immediately, we are tense. Terry is a Black man in a small Southern town, suddenly being confronted by cops. Terry knows the deal: he's as calm and courteous as he can possibly be. He shows unwarranted respect to the cops who get out of the car and confront him, even though they were clearly in the wrong. Terry's deference to these lawmen doesn't have the intended effect, though: they cuff him and search him, and are surprised to find a paper bag full of a large sum of money. All the money Terry has in the world. 

Terry calmly and sensibly explains that the cash is bail money: his cousin has recently been arrested, and Terry has serious reason to believe that if the cousin is transferred from the county jail to prison, his life will be in danger. Terry is clearly telling the truth, but the cops willfully refuse to buy it. Instead, they agree to let Terry go with a warning — and keep his money in the process. They tell him he can try to file a claim to get the money back, but it will likely do no good: no matter what Terry tries here, the cops are going to walk away with his cash. Terry has one of two options here: he can admit defeat and walk away a free man, or he can do everything in his power to get that money back.

Simply walking away wouldn't result in much of a movie, so Terry heads into town to try to find someone who will listen to reason. He speaks to court clerk Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), who is sympathetic but tells him he's more or less screwed. He also confronts the local good old boy police chief, Sandy Burnne, played with perfect grinning menace by Don Johnson. Burnne seems like he's willing to strike a deal with Terry, but then quickly shows his true, vile colors. Time and time again, Terry tries to do the right thing. He's calm, he's collected, he's cool. He doesn't want to cause a ruckus. But we know where this is building. We've seen too many movies to  not know that sooner or later, the law is going to push Terry too far, and when we learn he's an ex-Marine who specializes in kicking ass, we shudder with anticipation of the bloodshed to come. But Saulnier isn't playing by the same tired old action movie rules here. He's trying something different. 

Rebel Ridge subverts our action movie expectations

To say more would enter spoiler territory, so I'll tread carefully. What you need to know is that while "Rebel Ridge" is an action movie, the action is different than what we've come to expect from most Hollywood fare these days. For one thing, when Terry engages in hand-to-hand confrontations with characters, it looks rough and raw. These aren't the highly choreographed fight scenes of the "John Wick" franchise — they're sloppy and clumsy, which is what actual fights tend to look like in the real world. On top of that, Saulnier is deliberately avoiding a certain kind of bloodshed that we've come to expect — and a part of me wonders how that will go over with some viewers. When you strip "Rebel Ridge" down to its brass tacks, it's ultimately a movie about a Black man facing off against not just corrupt cops, but an inherently corrupt system. Saulnier's script doesn't overtly paint the cops as virulent racists, but the implications are there. As a result, there's a kind of implied catharsis in the idea of seeing a highly capable, highly skilled Black man fighting these creeps. But Saulnier seems to have designed the film to subvert our base need to see Terry lay waste to everyone who dares to push him too far. The fact that Saulnier has primarily made movies about violent men doing violent things only heightens our expectations. 

That's not to say "Rebel Ridge" denies us the pleasures of watching Terry beat the living hell out of some people. The action is a release; it's a full boil after a slow simmer. Saulnier is deliberately building the tension here, and the first hour of the film, where Terry comes to town and finds trouble at every turn, no matter how hard he tries to avoid it, is dynamic and exciting. Indeed, this first hour works so well that the back half of the film suffers slightly as a result — Saulnier can only build things up for so long before he has to start paying them off, and the pay off isn't quite as engaging as the build. 

Despite this, "Rebel Ridge" delivers the goods. Pierre is the film's true weapon, and the movie wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without his cool-as-hell performance. The actor has striking eyes, and Saulnier realizes this, using lots of close-ups of Terry's face as he silently works things out. Terry seems to be constantly weighing the odds in his head, calculating his next step with pinpoint precision. Because of Pierre's deliberate performance, we can sense the gears turning in his mind. "Rebel Ridge" perfectly showcases the skills of its director and star. Saulnier is very,  very good at what he does, and so is Pierre, and the two of them working together has produced explosive results. Don't let "Rebel Ridge" slip through the Netflix cracks. 

/Film Rating: 8 out of 10

"Rebel Ridge" is streaming on Netflix on September 6, 2024.

‘April’ Review: Abortion Drama Is a Singular Horror Show

Venice Film Festival: Director Dea Kulumbegashvili’s distinct film follows an OB-GYN who performs illegal abortions in Georgia

Don’t let the name fool you: “April” is a wintery affair. By far the most uncompromising vision to play at this year’s Venice Film Festival, director Dea Kulumbegashvili’s slow cinema horror show might also be the most audacious. That audacity translates less by way of length or provocation – Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” and Harmony Korine’s “Baby Invasion” have those laurel locked up – than by way of self-assurance, from the filmmaker’s steadfast belief in her own creative gambit to her audience’s willingness to immerse themselves within.

This is, in so many words, a swing for auteur enshrinement so crystalline in intent that it namedrops Mikhail Kalatozov’s “The Cranes Are Flying” and visually cites Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin” from the very jump.

Kulumbegashvili can reasonably wager on her film’s long-term prospects once it meets the right crowd (“April” boasts the producing support of Luca Guadagnino, who showered Kulumbegashvili’s prior effort, “Beginning,” with just about every eligible prize when he headed the San Sebastian jury in 2020), but the diverging festival response between Kalatozov’s 1957 Palme d’Or winner and Glazer’s 2013 subject to boos and jeers reflects the shakier outlook for such formal extremes upon immediate arrival.

Of course, the film is all too conversant in those particular risks, capping an opening prologue that finds a humanoid monster slinking into a pitch black abyss with a depiction of live childbirth for an infant that (narratively, at least) doesn’t last minutes in this world. Shot from above and leaving nothing to the imagination, the extended sequence has a jolting effect, at first shocking with a clinical view of the single act that unites us all (don’t worry those born of Cesarean, Kulumbegashvili later circles back to cover that as well) before lingering long enough for us to wonder why an act so common should remain so obscure.

Viewed in a certain way, “April” can be described as a character study centering on Nina (Ia Sukhitashvili), the OB-GYN-turned-scapegoat upon that tragic turn. Only we don’t actually see Nina’s face fully lit in close-up until the one-hour point, nor do we hear her name spoken aloud before the penultimate scene. Instead, Kulumbegashvili overlays perspectives, collapsing her camera, her lead, and her audience atop one another. If not fully assuming the first-person, the film often frames interactions in near POVs that hew the character’s general eye-line and position in space at a given time.

Even when it breaks or plays with that framing and blocking device, “April” subsumes the main character’s Hippocratic view into all aesthetic choices. As a doctor, Nina is, rather by definition, a clinical pragmatist; she treats the symptoms and tries to resolve the problems in front of her. That one of those issues is the complete lack of (legal) family planning in this devout and rural patriarchy doesn’t really faze our physician. Somebody’s going to do it, she figures; might as well be the one with medical training. As with that early birthing sequence, the film translates this same clinical reasoning in visual terms, confronting elements often left off-screen and casting them in cold light.

Time and again, Nina confounds the patriarchal order by refusing it recognition, but she pays the price for her insolence, from a transactional sexual encounter turned violent once she asks for reciprocation, to the career put in danger once rumors of her extracurricular medical services begin to swirl. That career is all she has, as the price for living beyond the reigning order is a life of solitude and abnegation. The director’s almost-but-not-quite POV compositions accentuate that solitude, framing characters in conversation or sexual congress as completely isolated forms.

Shirking exposition until absolutely necessary, “April” follows Nina over a nominally condensed period of just a few days, all destabilized by long takes that curdle and warp the felt passage of time. We see her with a hospital superior whose overly familiar questions might hint at workplace harassment until we learn of their shared past and undimmed flames. We see travel across vast plains whose great expanse belies a cloistered world where everyone is up each other’s business, and we see her at work, both on the clock and off. As it builds a rather deliberate pace, the film implicates and includes us in Nina’s sense of trudging responsibility until we finally see her face in full as her eyes beam at the sight of a healthy newborn, and better understand the passion that guides her.

Lest we slip too close to realism, Kulumbegashvili often returns to that opening homunculus – a stooped figure with a spine protruding from mounds of melted flesh that might be a version of Nina finally removed from all the human impulses still anchoring her, or maybe something completely different (a wink to that goop deformed thug from “Robocop?” Who knows — this is an open text). To that end, the odd sight adds a final, unresolvable question to a film that continually makes formal leaps assuming that the audience drawn in will work alongside to catch up. That takes a certain mad audacity, and a level of belief both in self and in the audience that flatters – and bewilders.

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Review: ‘Seeking Mavis Beacon’ tracks down a cyberghost who taught a generation how to type

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Role models come in all shapes and sizes, invariably saying more about the nature of influencing than the person setting the example. A hearty thank-you, then, to pioneering computer-age figure Mavis Beacon for inspiring a documentary these many years later — Jazmin Jones’ effervescent adventure “Seeking Mavis Beacon” — that puts a tech icon’s impact into sharp, funny and thought-provoking context.

The kick is that Mavis Beacon isn’t a real person. But she resoundingly was one to the countless Black millennials who learned how to type from a software game launched in 1987 that featured the bright smiling face of an elegantly attired woman who looked like them and who seemed to be subconsciously selling empowerment.

Sliding into the gap between the creation of a late-’80s marketing invention programmed by three white men and our 21st century world of cyber-unreality, first-time feature director Jones becomes a cheery, determined DIY sleuth investigating a cultural icon. That involves tracking down the beautiful Haitian model named Renée L’Espérance who, after being hired from a perfume counter in Los Angeles, seemed to vanish after her visage launched millions of users into a new world of interactive education.

With the help of a savvy college-age collaborator and self-proclaimed “cyber doula” named Olivia Ross (also the film’s associate producer), the intrepid duo probes the Mavis mytho-history with a charming mix of reverence, intellectual curiosity and humor, like an internet-era Scooby-Doo gang of two. Leads are followed, “missing” signs are posted, spirits are conjured and cultural thinkers are interviewed on everything from the role of women in tech servitude — hello, Siri and Alexa — to such concepts as critical fabulism, data healing and cyberfeminism.

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Director Jones, a lively onscreen presence, sees her project as following a path set by pioneering Black filmmaker Cheryl Dunye, whose landmark film “The Watermelon Woman,” we gather, is probably on a playback loop in her Mavis-centric office. Dunye’s noteworthy quote about researching the marginalized (“Sometimes you have to create your own history”) is Jones’ mantra for their archival mission. Early on, we see some playful deepfakes that show Mavis recognized by the likes of Obama and Oprah.

When the documentary shifts to cold-calling, door-knocking and crafty online digging, it turns out there are real, tantalizing details to unearth. The women secure interviews with two of the software company’s founders but wisely don’t accept their upbeat, carefully curated version as gospel, eventually learning that relations didn’t end so amicably between the men, who raked in millions, and the woman whom they paid $500 for her likeness.

As a counter, Jones has a warmer conclusion in mind for the film: a devotional sit-down with L’Espérance — what Jones calls a “wellness check” — if, that is, they can find her. Or if she even wants to be found. Watching Jones and Ross navigate a knotty search that straddles the pitfalls of citizen journalism, the energy of hero worship and the seriousness of ethical inquiry is where “Seeking Mavis Beacon” ultimately finds its truest heart, chronicling a journey that invariably butts up against the problem of whose perspective is taking center stage.

There are some cringeworthy moments watching the pair win at detective work while losing as vulnerable fangirls. But like any soulful quest worth its salt, “Seeking Mavis Beacon” makes the lows as meaningful as the highs, endorsing a wild web world in which mystery and exposure can peacefully coexist.

'Seeking Mavis Beacon'

Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes Playing: Landmark’s Nuart Theatre, West Los Angeles

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‘Why War’ Review: Amos Gitai’s Rumination on Conflict Lacks Specificity

The veteran Israeli filmmaker hits a wall while lamenting the broad concept of war.

By Siddhant Adlakha

Siddhant Adlakha

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“ Why War ” is both the title of Amos Gitai ‘s latest and a question that has long been on the director’s mind — one he has tried to answer with works like “A Letter to a Friend in Gaza” and “West of the Jordan River.” However, this seemingly direct confrontation of the query takes a roundabout path, resulting in a movie about helplessness, frustration and intellectual debate in the face of military conflict. It is based, in part, on written correspondences between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, and takes an experimental, meta-fictional form, though its images can’t help but feel trepidatious, if not entirely without purpose.

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Before diving headfirst into re-enactments of Freud and Einstein’s letters, Gitai follows actor Irène Jacob (star of his most recent movie, the absurdist drama “ Shikun “) as she pens a letter of her own, to the filmmaker himself. She writes (and speaks, in voiceover) of the paralysis she feels experiencing war as a series of images on television, a framing device seemingly geared towards explaining Gitai’s own perspective on recent events — one that cannot, by nature, feel truly involved.

Unfortunately, the material itself never approaches the topic of war beyond the abstract. The letters in question are far more general and philosophical than a film about Israel and Palestine demands. While Gitai’s endless closeups on Amalric make for a great performance showcase, Freud’s words about common instincts and cultural interests hold weight only as theoretical solutions to theoretical problems. Ironically, treating notion of war with such a broad brush — rather than wrestling with real specifics — works only to flatten asymmetrical conflicts, like those which have been seen in the wake of October 7. (Significantly more Palestinians have been killed than Israelis.) Gitai, though he may wish for a pause button to the conflict at large, unwittingly decontextualizes war itself, as a matter of psychological impulse, and of male aggression, rather than complex geographical, historical and ideological dynamics.

As the film goes on, its lament about the general concept of war takes numerous forms, from Jacob participating in interpretive dance, to filmed clips of staged musical performances set against a video installation, à la Gitai’s staged version of “A Letter to a Friend in Gaza.” If helplessness in the face of war is the movie’s default point of view, then it seldom struggles against those constraints, resulting in a work that says little with its words and images.

Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Out of Competition), Aug. 31, 2024. 87 MIN.

• Production: (France-Switzerland-Italy) An Agav Films, Elefant Films production in association with GAD Fiction, United King Films, Indiana Production, Live and Survive. Producers: Amos Gitai, Laurent Truchot, Shuki Friedman, Alexandre Iordachescu.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Amos Gitai. Camera: Eric Gautier. Editor: Yuval Orr. Music: Alexey Kochetkov, Louis Sclavis, Kioomars Musayyebi.
• With: Irène Jacob, Mathieu Amalric, Micha Lescot, Jérôme Kircher, Yaël Abecassis, Keren Morr. (French, English, Arabic, Hebrew dialogue)

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