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Kal Penn, Tabu, Irfan Khan, Jacinda Barrett, Zuleikha Robinson ... see more see more... , Gretchen Egolf , Pallavi Shah

A couple coming to terms with living in a new culture discover their troubles are compounded by their son in this drama from filmmaker Mira Nair. Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) are a young coup... read more read more...le who are brought together in an arranged marriage and soon leave Calcutta to seek their fortune in America. As the couple becomes accustomed to one another, they learn to deal with the coolness and superficiality of life in New York, even as they revel in the opportunities the city offers them. Before long, Ashima gives birth to a baby boy, and pressed to choose a name, they dub the infant Nikhil, though he soon picks up the nickname Gogol, after Ashoke's favorite author. By the time the child is old enough to attend school, he insists upon being called Gogol at all times, and he displays little interest in his Indian heritage. Several years on, Gogol has decided he wants to be called Nick (and is now played by Kal Penn) and has become a thoroughly Americanized teenager, openly rebelling against his parents, smoking marijuana in his room, and dating Maxine (Jacinda Barrett), a preppy blonde from a wealthy family. Ashoke and Ashima are uncertain about how to deal with their son's attempts to cut himself off from their culture, but Nick begins expressing some uncertainty himself when he meets Moushumi (Zuleikha Robinson), a beautiful girl who also comes from a family of Indian expatriates. The Namesake was adapted from the bestselling novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

78% liked it

62,936 ratings

Critics

86% liked it

126 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 2 min.

Directed by: Mira Nair

Release Date: September 2, 2006

Keywords: touching, realistic

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DVD Release Date: November 27, 2007

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Stats: 4,922 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (4,922)

  • pier007
    May 1, 2012
    pier007
    A beautiful journey through places, times, and mainly the souls of a group of fascinating people, struggling to find themselves in the midst of all the changes that come with life.
  • cosmo313
    June 21, 2011
    cosmo313
    This film, about a young Bengali American wrestling with a cultural identity crisis, is a nice take on the culture clash/cultural identity film, and also marks a nice change of pace for Kal Penn. True, he had a serious role on House, but there was also a lot of humor.This is a mo... read morere mature work for him, even though Gogol isn't too far removed from Kumar. Gogol is more smart and serious though.

    All the cliched words like touching, heartwarming, etc apply here, and the film hits some familair beats, but it's not totally unoriginal thanks to how everything is conducted and presented. This is obviously a labor of love for Nair, and she does a great job, especially since she can relate to the material. All of the perforances are terrific, but Penn, Tabu, and Khan are the real strong points here.

    Give this one a shot. It's far from brilliant or new, but it is well played, and gives some welcome portrayals of India and Indian culture.
  • fb100002359227440
    June 13, 2011
    fb100002359227440
    A beautiful film, great screenplay and direction that brings a terrific cast. Fresh.
  • MeetMeinMontauk
    November 4, 2010
    MeetMeinMontauk
    I actually watched this for a Film & Literature class and really liked it. The struggles between old world and new world were interesting and are something I think everyone can relate to. I especially liked seeing Kal Penn in a serious role. Good to know he can pull that off.
  • sanjurosamurai
    December 1, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    this is a really good film. universal ideals seen from two different cultures make this film profound. a few of the performances of the actors were really good and the story was strong. unfortunately the first hour of the film was much stronger than the second, the story veered... read more off in some odd directions and the music lost its focus, but thankfully the last 15 minutes steered the film back on course and it finished well. overall it was a very good movie.
  • aliceinpunderland
    May 29, 2008
    aliceinpunderland
    Decent, ambitious intentions for adapting Lahiri's brilliant novel (which is very much an epic saga for under 300 pages) but had too many scenes, too little build-up for climactic moments (Ashoke's death, dissolution of Gogol and Moushoumi's marriage), and too ham-handed a treatm... read moreent of the "namesake" theme. Kal Penn's good in comedies, even serious moments in comedies, but when he acts serious in dramas, he's dull (incl. "House"). Irfan Khan and Tabu are wonderful as Ashoke and Ashima. The thing I love most about the novel is that Lahiri is able to develop all three of their stories so fully; the film really only succeeds with Ashima's.
  • superclerk25
    February 26, 2008
    superclerk25
    This is a very character driven movie. One of the things that may throw people is that through the whole thing we don't know whose story we are supposed to be focusing on. Is it the wayward son? The mother trying to adapt in a strange land? The father trying to hold it all to... read moregether? It might be all these people.
    The point of the movie is to see the world through all these eyes and to learn that the world is bigger than we are but not as strong as a family together in it.
    The whole cast was excellent and played their parts well. Kal Penn was the weakest of the bunch but he still excelled in the role.
    It's long and slow at parts but the journey is worth it.
  • mrbungle7821
    January 15, 2008
    mrbungle7821
    [CENTER][img]http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1803/marla2ik5.jpg[/img][/CENTER]

    [COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Arial]My Kid Could Paint That - Prodigy, fraud, normal preschooler? This incisive and captivating documentary looks at a four-year-old who has made thousands of dollars on he... read morer modern art paintings. If she is the real deal, what does that say about modern art when a child can compete with serious artists? This intensely interesting story is given as objective a viewpoint as possible even as the filmmaker is forced into his own movie when the family he's been documenting is looking at his film as a favorable retort to a very critical 60 Minutes segment casting doubt that the paintings are genuine. The filmmaker has his own doubts and explores the nature of journalism and storytelling and objectivity and what is art, and that's when the documentary transcends its story and becomes about much more. I have no doubt that the child is involved in painting (the question registers with how involved her failed artist father is), but the people that are buying her paintings are buying them because they are also purchasing the story. [I]My Kid Could Paint That[/I], as one interview subject states, is really a story about adults seeking the limelight, because otherwise it would just be a kid having fun painting in the confines of her home. Is she exploited? Is she a genuine talent in a world of paint splashes and squiggly lines? Will she ever just be allowed to be a kid? These are just a few of the tantalizing questions this mature and insightful movie raises.

    Nate's Grade: B+


    The Namesake - Extremely heartfelt, this cross-generational family drama runs aground on some familiar territory but is boasted by strong acting. Whenever the film's focus falls to the arranged married couple settling into a new country and a new relationship, that is when [I]The Namesake[/I] is the most affecting and interesting. Too much time is spent on Gogol (Kal Penn) as their son who has completely embraced American culture and throws off his Indian roots. Of course he comes around in his opinion but his character never feels fully formed or completely believable, more like a composite of a prodigal son. Director Mira Nair has an obvious personal attachment to this tale of an Indian family trying to make their way in the U.S. of A, and she never misses her mark when dealing with the intensely decent and selfless father and his love for his wife. It's a shame then that the movie shifts too much focus at the halfway point onto Gogol. [I]The Namesake[/I] is a touching and entertaining that's a cut above thanks to sensitive performances.

    Nate's Grade: B+


    Kickin' It Old Skool - A moderately surprising comedy that's really much more fish-out-of--water than tired [I]You Got Served[/I] dance parody. Jamie Kennedy busts a move as a kid in a man's body who wakes up after being in a coma for 20 years. There is an overemphasis on recreating the 80s in the early part, with a crushing amount of catch phrases, name drops, and dated toys and fashions. The rest of the film follows the sports formula closely as Kennedy reassembles his aged Funky Fresh Boys to win a dance competition for standard goals like saving his family and winning the girl of his dreams. [I]Kickin' It[/I] is a simpleton comedy that never aims it sights too high, but every now and then the film connects on a gag or a character that produces some real yuks (my favorite being a homeless man convinced he invented break dancing). Some of the jokes are pretty dusty and the romance is, like most of the conflict, forced and contrived, and yet I cannot hate this movie. I never grew weary watching it even though during the climactic dance-off tournament there is a dearth of even attempted comedy.

    Nate's Grade: C


    A Mighty Heart - Good intentions and some proficient camerawork can only go so far to make a film worthwhile. Angelina Jolie gives the best performance of her career as kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's wife (she's French and Cuban, making for one really tricky accent). I wanted to like this movie more. The subject matter is serious and timely, the filmmaking has a sturdy docu-drama look, and the acting never comes across as phony, but alas, I think I mentally checked out because much of the film is a detective story that I already know the ending to. Daniel Pearl was infamously beheaded, so watching an hour of his wife, friends, and local police scramble to track down key figures, their allegiances and acquaintances, and the whereabouts of Daniels can come across as fruitless and somewhat cruel. This film doesn't have the same cathartic feel that [I]United 93[/I] had because that moment was universal, and while I can admire the cinematography and superb acting I can't ignore the fact that watching people search and fail gives me little emotional reward as a viewer.

    Nate's Grade: B


    Evening - A chick flick crammed with lots of bona fide stars and A-list talent that manages to squander all talent. It slogs on and on, the back and forth nature of the plot does little to keep an audience alert, and the story it tells in the past is so pedestrian, so miniscule, and ultimately so mundane that you can't help but wonder why an old woman on her deathbed would be flashing back and remembering it. This high profile weepy never finds the right tone and often settles for maudlin and predictable plot turns. [I]Evening[/I] is the kind of movie that kills the chances for a large, female-driven film to get made in Hollywood.

    Nate's Grade: C-[/FONT][/COLOR]
  • fernandorafael
    August 30, 2007
    fernandorafael
    a movie that shows the importance that lies within something as simple, and at the same time crucial, like someone's name...a beautiful picture directed by mira nair, it tells the story of two indian inmigrants who settle in NY and build their family there... gorgeous photography... read more and soundtrack, the script and the direction are very good, and the actors really stand out: Kal Penn (Kalpen Suresh Modi) is AMAZING in a serious role, but, let's face it, he''ll always be Kumar; Tabu and Irrfan Khan are great as well... i loved how this movie depicted cultural differences... it is a great drama, even funny (when it has to be).. LOVED IT!
  • ceWEBrity
    May 18, 2007
    ceWEBrity
    The Namesake is worthy of praise, but suffers from "Maria Full of Grace Syndrome"; that is, a good foreign film that probably would not be nearly as critically praised if it was a similar American product. The acting is generally good, and the dialogue shines, but those are the m... read moreovie's two strongest points. Its pacing is all over the map, with a downright painful first half hour and several very long uneventful stretches peppered throughout. That's to say nothing of the jarring chronological shifts that Mira Nair throws in without warning.

    Frankly, the movie is near unwatchable until Gogol is introduced. Tabu, performing excellently as Ashima, tries her damndest to keep us paying attention during that first act, but it's an uphill battle. For a majority of the movie, she and her husband are not interesting people, no questions asked. They only become full, dynamic, interesting humans in the last half hour of the movie. Kind of a shame when the kid from freakin' Epic Movie is stealing your thunder.

    This is worth seeing, but a massive disappointment. It shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the 2007 Oscars. It's just a typical family drama with a cultural twist that everyone seems to be going crazy for.

View All The Namesake Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert
December 7, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

What holds it together are the subtle loving performances by Tabu and Khan, both Bollywoood stars. They never overplay, never spell out what can be said in a glance or a shrug, communicate great passi... Full Review

Jonathan F. Richards
April 22, 2007
Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com

It is a saga told in small pieces, a patchwork of short scenes that tumble after each other almost apologetically, as if they would love to linger a little longer, but there is too much to tell and on... Full Review

Roger Moore
April 1, 2007
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Penn is just wrong for it. Full Review

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
March 29, 2007
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Intelligent and insightful, The Namesake celebrates family in a unique way. Full Review

Randy Cordova
March 24, 2007
Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic

This is a wonderful movie. Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
March 23, 2007
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

There's more love and heart in The Namesake than in many Hollywood dramas. I just wish the filmmakers had spread it around. Cross-cultural understanding should be a two-way street. Full Review

Tom Long
March 23, 2007
Tom Long, Detroit News

The Namesake is three-fourths of a fine film. Which is, of course, far better than most. Full Review

Terry Lawson
March 23, 2007
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Mira Nair has made one of the best movies about the immigrant American experience ever. And even if you know nothing about India and its customs, The Namesake is not a movie you have to get into. Full Review

Ty Burr
March 16, 2007
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The Namesake has a deep, alluvial poetry to it, like a mighty river reaching the sea. It's mysterious and ordinary, insightful and banal, rambling and precise, and it is altogether unexpected. Full Review

Stephen Holden
March 16, 2007
Stephen Holden, New York Times

Mira Nair's The Namesake conveys a palpable sense of people as living, breathing creatures who are far more complex than their words might indicate.

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The Namesake Trivia

  • A smug, self-centered TV weatherman on a remote fieldtrip assignmant to cover an annual ceremony involving his namesake, a weather predicting groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil, finds himself inexplicably trapped in a hellish replay of the same 24hs...'till love wins out'???  Answer »
  • After which famous Russian novelist has named a father his son in the Mira Nair's movie The Namesake?  Answer »
  • I was based VERY loosely off of a real court case made against a local water company, revolving around a chemical being thrown into the town's water. (HINT: The "loose" part comes in with the title's namesake not being as wild as she is portrayed in reality). What am I?  Answer »
  • Iron Man 2- Mickey Rourke portrays Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, the primary antagonist. However, Whiplash has attributes of two villains from the Iron Man comics. One of course is his namesake (who also goes by Blacklash) but who's the other?  Answer »
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