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Here is my review, SPOILERISH BEWARE:
As an American, with Indian parents, but raised to be cultured and traditional with Indian values, I was very curious of this film. Sure, I had my concerns about the film by watching the trailers and promos, and my main gripe was "how would Karan Johar portray Americans in this film", but I had to see it for myself.
I thought the movie was ok, just ok, it wasn't excellent, nor it was bad. It was just ok.
I loved the first half of My Name is Khan (MNIK), that could have been the movie right there, who cares if Riz wants to meet the president, I want to know the story of how Mandira falls in love with a person like Rizwan. Everything turned a full 180 once 911 hit. Understandably, people just don't understand the cultures and other religions, so we see some of that. And those scenes were fine, the Director Karan Johar (KJ) didn't go overboard with it.
THIS WAS SHAHRUKH KHAN'S (SRK) BEST PERFORMANCE. This role is acted wonderfully. I got fully invested in Rizwan's character that I forgot it was SRK, I was watching Rizwan. Kajol acted great too, but there were some scenes where she probably overacted, very dramatically in fact. The scene where Mandira is holding Sam's dead body, it is sad yes, but it's enough. The hosipital scene, where Rizwan and Mandira is seating down and Mandira repeats the time of the death over and over again was powerful enough, but why see Mandira break down saying "Come back to me baby come back to me baby", it was two minutes, could have easily been a deleted scene. Maybe I shouldn't blame Kajol for that, since it was the KJ's doing.
I liked that KJ shows how there are bad people out there trying to recruit and manipulate the Islamic sayings and teachings for their own vengence. That is one part of the story I liked.
I was worried in the beginning of the film when Rizwan was selling the products, and the ladies he met were ready and willing if you get my drift, KJ in his previous films showed American girls as easy and ****s....., but in this movie, he didn't take it too far.
I really like Sam's best friend (Russell?? is that his name). I liked his acting, and the scene on the soccer field, it was intense, cringe worthy even, but I liked Russell because he represented the American who is not understanding, follows the crowd, but good on the inside, and just scared to come out and stand up for himself, which is what he did to protect Sam. The scene represents Rizwans' mother's theory, only two kinds of people, Good and Bad, and we see that in the soccer field and with Russell.
Interrogation sequence. The beginning interrogation, I was worried, but I thought it was normal. I was happy they didn't portray the cops like thugs, and they were doing their job. I liked that he wasn't randomly picked, that Rizwan was acting weird and praying in line, of course he would be suspicious.
The later interrogation sequence was great too. Again, didn't go overboard, it was just the right amount of intensity.
Pre and Post Hurricane/Flood in GEORGIA...... I loved those scenes. It is what Rizwan, a man with that syndrome would do. we are talking about a man who is traveling across America to meet the President just because he didn't understand simple sarcasm from Mandira. I loved the scenes, the Cinematography was great, the heroism of Rizwan and how it recinated across the country on the News was great. I got goosebumps when "Allah Hi Rahim" played when the people come to help, and I'm not even Muslim. So, I get how Rizwan would go help Mama Jenny, it was touching, and I think the set and if there was CGI was excellent as well, OVERALL IT WAS GREAT VISUALLY
Pre Hurricane was great too. The church scene was ok, I didn't mind the singing, THAT IS WHAT THEY DO IN THESE CHURCHS, but my gripe here is that Rizwan was speaking in Hindi during his speech, I think if it was in English, it would have been more touching, because we have a man with the syndrome, trying to express his feelings in English, I think it was a crying moment, but it wasn't.
One gripe, one gripe I had was Mandira going to Georgia to meet Rizwan. Right after Mandira pratically kicks out Rizwan, quite rudely might I add, she spent some time trying to find Sam's killers, but I didn't find a scene where she felt sorry about what she said to Rizwan. It's like, he had to be plastered all over the news for her to get a clue that she was wrong about Rizwan and about what she did. I was expecting an emotional reunion, KJ style like in his previous films and what he is famous for, but there wasn't one.
The movie ended it too quickly. Right after Rizwan gets stabbed, BAM Obama is President, BAM Rizwan is cured, BAM Rizwan meets Obama. You just can't do that, it's a cop out.
I said it before and I will say it again. I just didn't buy the ending, and I don't mean how Rizwan met the President (even though that is so unlikely to ever happen), but the actor portraying Obama. The guy doesn't even look like him, I think I have seen him on the Jay Leno show. I would have prefered if it was background shots, or maybe side views, or over the shoulder shots like they did with Bush. Anywayz, it wasn't all too corny, but it looses the credibility of the film, and again, the movie ended too quickly.
And, what is up with Time in this movie? The timeline of these events. 911 hit in 2001, Rizwan meets the President in 2008? That is 7 years? And we see various dates in between, so how long was Mandira apart from Rizwan??
Another gripe........ WHAT IS UP WITH SRK NARRATION????? I don't want to be told what I'm seeing, I want to see it and understand it. The problem here is, in the narration, I'm listening to SRK and not Rizwan, so it takes me out of the experience.
My rating for this film is 7.5/10, B-. It's not perfect, but an okay film. My Name is Khan had a good serious tone, mixed in with some great romantic scenes in the beginning, but some quick feelings from Mandira, quick ending, and some other disappointing/confusing scenes prevented it from a more enjoyous experience.
