On November 26th, 2008, 10 members of an Islamic terrorist organization that operated out of Pakistan coordinated an attack in the city of Mumbai, India, that lasted four days. In all, 174 people were killed, as mass shootings and bombings were spread wide across the city, and those actions were condemned globally. The new film depicting the attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel could have resorted to the practice of whitewashing its characters or focus on a wealthy American. Instead, the focus is spread evenly among its diverse cast and Hotel Mumbai depicts them as honest-to-God real-life heroes.
Australian Anthony Maras makes his feature-length film directorial debut (after his award-winning work in short films like The Palace). He has a strong supporting team around him, including working from a screenplay from John Collee (Master & Commander), producer Basil Iwanyk (Sicario, The Town, Wind River) cumulating in a film of great emotional intensity and stoicism, that’s reminiscent of Michael Mann without being at the extreme end of stylized filmmaking that is replaced with an intense, frenetic pace and feel. This could have come undone quickly, but is held together with Maras’ strong framing (a scene of Indian officers walking slowly through a smoke-filled hallway is particularly effective) and the cinematography from Nick Remy Matthews (One Eyed Girl) can be visually exciting at times.
The cast is a strong one and is the film’s secret weapon. Dev Patel plays a waiter at the Hotel Mumbai who has a wife, a child, and another on the way. He works for a popular chef Hermant Oberoi (The Big Sick’s Anupam Kher), who has high standards, but a caring heart. Armie Hammer plays David, a hotel patron, who is having dinner with his wife Zahra (Homeland’s Nazanin Boniadi) while their infant child is in their hotel suite with their nanny Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey). Special mention should be given to actors Vitthal Kale and Nagesh Bhonsale, as two police officers who take a small team into the building, against the direct orders of their superiors while special forces were hours away. Patel continues to display a real growth as an actor since his turn in Slumdog Millionaire, particularly in a powerful scene, explaining to a scared and bigoted guest he will take off his religious headwear if it will make her more comfortable, even though he was just directly responsible for getting her to safety. Along with legendary international film star Anupam Kher, who is a veteran of over 500 films, brings a touch of grace to most any of the roles he takes on. Nazanin Boniadi is a standout, as a woman who was raised as a Muslim, now stuck boarded behind locked doors hiding from the terrorists while trying to think of a way to reunite with her family.
Hotel Mumbai is, no question, a hard watch and with the recent terror attacks in New Zealand, this film isn’t for the faint of heart (considering the amount of up-close deaths that are depicted in the film) but that is also not as exploitative as you would think. Maras shoots the film in a way that is blunt and to the point, it doesn’t sugarcoat the atrocities of the gutless attack that day, focusing on how awful these crimes were, even if it combines real events with fictionalized ones and composite characters (Jason Isaacs’ character Vasili is the black sheep here).
Bottom line, in a bleak start to 2019, Hotel Mumbai is the first great film of the year that has an emotional resonance and technical prowess. It’s a pulse-pounding, frenetic docudrama that is held together with the extraordinary technique by the team of Maras and Matthews. This is a Hollywood dramatization that is finally based on real events in a third-world country, featuring a diverse cast that honors their heroic acts and the sacrifices that were made.
Spread the Word!
This review of Ultraviolet Season 2 (Netflix) is spoiler-free. You can check out our thoughts on the first season by clicking these words.
I managed to annoy a surprising number of people by slagging off the first season of Netflix’s Ultraviolet, a show with a history more interesting than its cases. Created by Wendy West and originally intended as a show for Fox in the U.S., it moved to Polish network AXN with a game cast of local actors and then whipped up a whirlwind after being picked up by the streaming giant. The premise of internet-savvy amateur sleuths doing the police’s job for them obviously appealed to binge-watchers — not exactly a mystery, I suppose — and thus, we have a 12-episode follow-up in Ultraviolet Season 2.
It wasn’t promising to learn that the second season enjoyed a sharp decline in ratings in its native country, and it wasn’t surprising to learn why: This sophomore outing is notably a step down from its predecessor, with a casting switcheroo sapping some engaging chemistry from the lead lineup and an obviously deteriorating sense of energy and imagination. It will still have enough leftover charm to satisfy the most ardent supporters of the first season, and it retains the themes of law enforcement incompetence and the inherent dangers of being related in any way to heroine Ola (Marta Nieradkiewicz).
Ultraviolet Season 2 moves away from Ola somewhat with a broader focus that achieves mixed results; on the one hand fleshing out supporting characters and their attendant stories but on the other reminding everyone that Nieradkiewicz is easily the best thing about this show. It isn’t awful but, like the first season, even though I was seemingly the only person to think so, it doesn’t manage to capitalize on a decent premise — especially now that premise isn’t as fresh-feeling as it once was.
For more recaps, reviews and original features covering the world of entertainment, why not follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page?