Khalid Abdalla
stars as Amir – a young Afghani refugee who came to America
after the Soviet Union invaded Kabul. While he has grown up to
have a nice life,
Amir is haunted by events that occurred when he was a young boy. His best friend, Hassan
(Ahmad Khan
Mahmidzada), was the servant’s son and looked up to young
Amir like he was a
superhero. However,
one horrific
incident drove them apart. Now,
Amir has
an opportunity to make up for it, but he will have to return to Afghanistan
and
face down the Taliban to do so.
The
Kite Runner
is a dramatic, moving and touching story fraught with danger, but I
think
director Marc Forster and editor Matt Chesse miss a chance at
maximizing that
drama. The
Kite Runner is one of the
rare movies where I think flashback sequences would have helped. We spend most of the first
2/3rds of the
movie seeing the relationship between Amir and Hassan, the horrible
incident
that tears them apart and more, but I felt like it would have more
impact on
the audience if we could see all of this as Amir travels back to
Afghanistan
and remembers different portions of his life as they apply to his trip
or as he
is reminded of them by events we see in the movie.
Instead, we float along through the story
almost seeing too much information and not understanding what might be
important. However,
this is a criticism
that shouldn’t deter you from seeing the movie
Forster does a
great job creating the drama and enthralling the audience whether we
are
watching the Soviet tanks driving down the main streets of Kabul,
seeing the
falling out between the two young boys, or observing kite flying
tournaments
that feature gorgeous works of art soaring and swinging through the
sky, but
also engaging in a battle that will leave only one kite still flying (and none of the combatants are on steroids).
Most of all, you
will be amazed with Homayoun Ershadi.
He
plays Amir’s father, Baba, and captivates the audience with
his character’s
pride, honor, desire for greatness, and the pain and humiliation he
feels when
driven from his place of prominence in Afghanistan
to a series of blue collar jobs in America,
where he automatically is
looked down upon.
The
Kite Runner
is one of those movies that can make the toughest of people cry.
3 Waffles
(Out of 4)
The
Kite Runner is
rated PG-13 for strong
thematic material including the rape of a child, violence and brief
strong language.
Copyright
2007 - WaffleMovies.com
