Eaten By Lions ★★ ½ ☆☆ | Movie Review

Synopsis


After the death of their grandmother, Omar and his brother Pete go off in search of Omar's estranged father.


Review


The beginning of this movie was a very tough watch. I seriously considered leaving, I was expecting comedy throughout but what came at the beginning was slow and awkward. Everything with the aunt and uncle didn't hit the spot at all, and I thought the Harry Potter reference was such a terrible use of screen time.

I didn't particularly like the dynamic between Omar and Pete either, that made for a troublesome beginning too. I didn't buy that they had the sort of relationship that would have resulted in the road trip to search for Omar's father.

Eaten By Lions turned around once the boys meet Omar's long lost family and I was thankful that I hadn't walked out. The scene where they're sitting in front of the whole family and they're trying to decipher the history behind the encounter was so funny, then when Asim Chaudhry appeared I knew that all was not lost.

Irfan, played by Asim Chaudhry, and his family really make the difference in this, the dynamics between Irfan and his brother and father being the stand out performances. Irfan's childlike behaviour towards the whole thing is just so amusing. What I thought went a little too far was with Parveen, I can believe the fact that you always need to watch out for the quiet ones but where they took her character was over the top and completely unnecessary.

The film works well as a father and son family movie but with Omar's brother Pete in there too it just gets a little nuts. Dropping that storyline feels like it would have helped the movie flow better. Everything would still have worked had they introduced a less important character such as a friend to accompany Omar on his journey, rather than a sibling.

I loved Nitin Ganatra as Malik, and he plays off Asim Chaudhry in such a fun way. The two of them were the highlight of the movie. Sadly the other actors leave me shrugging, most were forgettable, some were annoying, and I'm not sure the whole selection worked together.

If it wasn't for the beginning of this film it would have been very close to top marks, but that whole lead-up held none of my interest at all. It's such a shame because it's pushed it from being a "must see" to "watch it when it's streaming" movie.

[Also, as an aside, the title Eaten By Lions... I'm not sure that it's really relevant. It's explained in the film and I actually wrote the note "is that it?" I wondered if it might become relevant later on but it wasn't something I could really pick up on if it did.]

What you should do


If you're on Unlimited or get cheap tickets then nip off to see it, but I don't think I'd say to should see it while it's still on at the cinema.

Movie thing you wish you could take home


They had a beautiful classic car, if I could get one of those the sit alongside Eleanor in my fantasy garage I'd be happy.

Comments