Meet the Patels

source: Meet the Patels

I hope everyone goes out to see this film when it opens in late September. We were lucky enough to see it in our film club a few weeks ago and it rated the highest of any film we've seen! It's one of those stories anyone can relate to, but its about a young Indian man trying to find his soul mate, who decides to give "arranged marriage, Indian-style" a try. It mostly shows how much alike we all are and the film is hugely funny! There was a Q&A session afterwards with the whole family on Skype and it was nearly as good as the film! The parents are hilarious!! The film was made by their son and his sister, so was a family project and began as footage from a family vacation. What they did with that is amazing! Please go see this and take your family and be prepared for lots of fun!!

I watched this movie one rainy afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. I appreciated Mr. Patel's character's desire to embrace the two clashing cultures and try to make them work for him. I live in a fairly rural area and don't get to meet a lot of Asians but am fascinated with other cultures. This movie revealed an aspect of a culture I probably will never get to experience. I highly recommend this movie.

'MEET THE PATELS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) A comedic documentary flick; about an Indian-American actor, who's been single most of his life, that agrees to allow his traditional parents, to set him up with a potential bride (on a trip to India). The film was directed by Ravi Patel (who also stars in the movie), and his sister Geeta. Geeta also filmed most of the documentary, in really poor quality video, and her footage is mixed with comedic animated sequences too (explaining unfilmed plot points). The film is interesting, and funny; it also has a great leading man performance, in Ravi Patel. Ravi Patel is a 29-year-old actor; who's played a lot of clichéd Indian-American 'bit parts' (in many movies). He's been single most of his life, and just broke up with his first girlfriend (Audrey Wauchope); due to a fear his parents wouldn't accept her (Audrey is an American redhead). On a trip with his family to India, he decides to allow his parents (Vasant and Chapa), to set him up with an Indian girl; in the traditional Indian family way. The film examines the concept of arranged couples, while Ravi's sister (Geeta) films the whole thing (she's also been single most of her life). The movie is interesting, in a very comedic (but informative) way. It's also extremely personal at times; and Ravi Patel is very funny, and charming. I enjoyed the movie, quite a bit, but it's a little hard for me to believe it's all completely genuine. Like a lot of modern documentary films, the movie seems more like really creative performance art; than like watching real people (acting completely genuine), in completely real situations (it seems at least partially staged). But I love performance art, I practice it a lot myself; and I love entertaining documentary flicks, like this, too. Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/CoUgbXLzKSQ

Ruvi breaks up with his white girlfriend because he feels a part of him is missing, and that missing part is an Indian girlfriend. After 90 minutes of Ruvi's angst, he ends up with the white woman he started with. Ruvi's parents, aunts, uncles, cousins... These are all interesting people. His parents are fun and engaging and - shocker! - when Ruvi is honest with them, they are happy he has found a mate. In otherwords, they're fine with it. The storyline is a bait-and-switch, which makes the bad camera work and horrible sound not worth it in the least.

I was REALLY interested in this movie...but, the subtitles are small and gray (in color) and impossible to read because of small size or because the color made the words meld into the video. In many cases, the subtitles were important in order to follow the story. Sad, because he narrative, editing and juxtaposition of cartoon rendition is so well done. I would have given this movie a ten. Great insight into the lives and culture of the Indian family strata and how they cling to traditional values. I'm seeing more and more recent movies trying to hide the subtitles by melting them into the background, but it is just an annoyance to a necessary part of understanding and enjoying a movie.

I watched this documentary with no expectations, just an interest in learning about a cultural experience. The outcome of the documentary was apparent from the start. I expected the journey that lead us there, however, to be far more interesting. The documentary lacked basic fundamentals. The main intent of the film is obscure. As far as the character development goes- there is little. The parents are absolutely wonderful and the saving grace of this documentary. Mr.Patel is amazingly charming. I would love to have known more about Geeta. Her story is the one I found more compelling and it was only briefly touched. (Major spoiler coming) The relationship between Ravi and Audrey never seemed genuine. After being together two years he kept saying he didn't know if he loved her. At no point in the film was their affection for each other shown, but it was obvious through the script that they would end up together. The failed attempt at a "surprising twist" was awkward. I was left feeling sorry for Audrey.

Greetings again from the darkness. These days the topic of racism is usually only addressed in the form of hatred and closed mindedness. This documentary/comedy looks at how racism within a culture is sometimes not only acceptable, but even encouraged as a tradition … and somehow it makes some sense. You might recognize Ravi Patel. He is an actor from Transformers and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", and here his real life search for a wife is the focus – as is the cultural contrasts between his roots in India and his single life in the United States. Ravi co-directs with his sister Geeta Patel, though Ravi is predominantly on screen while Geeta spend her time operating the camera … while simultaneously jabbing and prodding her 29 year old brother with questions on his dating approach. The movie picks up when Ravi has recently split with his long time girlfriend, Audrey Wauchope. Despite being very close with his parents, there is one reason Ravi never informed them of the relationship: Audrey is a white girl, not an Indian. Ravi's parents are the product of an arranged marriage, the long-standing cultural tradition that not only matches male and female Indians, but takes it a step further by only pairing up Patels with roots in the same small geographic area of India. It's a form of selective mating that dates back many generations. Things get interesting and the laughs pick up as Ravi agrees to let his parents work the Indian dating network so that he can test out their traditions – in hopes of finding a match as well-suited as what theirs is. This process begins with "biodata"; a type of personal resume submitted by boys and girls – a precursor to the meet-up. It really plays like a home movie, or a video journal, as Geeta films Ravi on dates and directly after, as he provides feedback on whether it was a good match. There is also a creative use of black & white animation to fill in the interview gaps where only Ravi's audio is available. The family quest to find a mate for Ravi provides some interesting and entertaining insight into the culture, but the best parts of the film come courtesy of the parents. The mother and father are exceptionally intelligent and very loving and engaged in supporting the success of their kids. Whenever the film drags a bit, a scene with either parent picks us right back up. It's their commitment to the cause that highlights the cultural customs and challenges faced by immigrants as they struggle to get in step with American society while holding onto the tradition they so respect.

This very cute movie follows Indian actor Ravi Patel's adventures in dating, as, after breaking up with his adorably geeky white girlfriend he allows his parents to usher him into the world of Indian semi-arranged marriage, dating women all over the country as his sister documents his adventure and chats with him as both sister and interrogator. The elaborate dating system he enters is quite interesting, and his eager-to-help parents are lovely people. The movie has a number of cute animated sequences, and as the movie progresses we learn a little about the behind-camera sister's own dating life. One thing about this movie - I'm not sure I like Ravi all that much. He comes across as an overly picky commitment-phobe whose vision of the ideal influences the way he treats women. He's not terrible, the movie does confront this issues to some extent, and I appreciate that he was willing to show himself this honestly, but still, I was a bit put off by him at times. Still, this is informative and funny and nicely paced.

Take away the cultural aspect of this story (i.e. an Indian-American coming from a closely-knit society that has strict expectations on how and to whom one will marry) and this is just a typical story of a guy looking for a girl. Yet in the process, we get to learn (or rather get confirmation...for some of us) just how shallow, racist and petty Indian culture can be. Maybe the most telling scene was when the son whines over the phone "But MOMMY....I told you: no fatties!" Yes, we get some banter from the parents whom I'm sure were told "aren't you adorable...you should be in a movie!" by their relatives, but the reality is Indian culture just is not very exotic anymore. Being racist and shallow is not "cute" nor is it acceptable just because it's part of one's culture. And the whiny son trying to get a girl who will make him happy and fit in with his family really is not at all original, regardless of the setting. Had we gained any NEW insight or information (maybe such as why dumpy, odd-looking Indian guys with acne and no career to speak of feel they somehow deserve to marry a super-model) there may have been value or entertainment here.