SUCH A LONG JOURNEY —** — Roshan Seth, Soni Razdan, Om Puri, Kurush Deboo, Sam Dastor, Vrajesh Hirjee, Naseeruddin Shah; in English and Parsee, with English subtitles; not rated, probable R (violence, profanity, vulgarity, gore, brief nudity, brief sex, brief torture); exclusively at the Loews Cineplex Broadway Centre Cinemas.
Frankly, "Such a Long Journey" feels like one.
There's an interesting kernel of a story in this sluggishly paced drama, a joint Canadian and Indian production. But there are so many detours — most of which wind up in dead ends — that you might not care what happens.
That's a pity, considering that it's based on a Booker Award-nominated novel (by Rohinton Mistry) and that its political subtexts are much discussed in the film.
But what's perhaps most irritating is that it wastes a good lead performance by veteran Indian actor Roshan Seth (probably best known to U.S. audiences for his roles in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Street Fighter").
He stars here as Gustad Noble, a bank clerk and family man who finds himself drawn into the considerable turbulence going on in Bombay, amid the beginning of his country's 1971 war with Pakistan.
To be more specific, Gustad is troubled because an old friend has asked him for a favor — to channel stolen government funds into a bank account set up to help Pakistani refugees. And it's not without risk — for both Gustad and his best friend/co-worker (Sam Dastor), who agrees to help him with the scheme.
If that isn't bad enough, Gustad's also got family problems to contend with.
First, his son (Vrajesh Hirjee) rebels against the career plans his father has for him. Then his faithful wife (Soni Razdan) falls under the influence of their superstitious neighbor. And his young daughter becomes ill, possibly with malaria.
All these diverging story lines do converge at the very end, though the filmmakers (director Sturla Gunnarsson and screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala) make it difficult to understand the significance of a particular scene.
The drawn-out pacing doesn't help (Gunnarsson lingers on scene after scene), and the film's political "lessons" and messages are confusing, despite a scrolling explanation at the beginning of the movie.
However, the cast tries hard to make it work, particularly Seth, Razdan and Om Puri, who doesn't receive nearly enough screen time as Gustad's mysterious "contact."
"Such a Long Journey" is not rated but would probably receive an R for violence (a stoning and other tussles), profanity, use of crude slang terms, gore, brief male nudity, a brief simulated sex act and a brief scene of torture (animal cruelty).