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Movies / On DVD / Brick Lane
Brick Lane

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Brick Lane (2008)

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Reviews Counted:93

Fresh:60

Rotten:33

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: Frustratingly slow-moving, but ultimately saved by Chatterjee's solid acting and Gavron's gentle patience.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for some sexuality and brief strong language.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:16-11-2007

Synopsis: Nazneen’s life is turned upside down at the tender age of seventeen,. Forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s... Nazneen’s life is turned upside down at the tender age of seventeen,. Forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. In this new world, pining for her home and her sister, she struggles to make sense of her existence – and to do her duty to her husband. A man of inflated ideas (and stomach), he sorely tests her compliance.

Told from birth that she must not fight her fate, Nazneen submits, devoting her life to raising her family and slapping down her demons of discontent. Until the day that Karim, a hot-headed local man, bursts into her life.

Against a background of escalating racial tension, they embark on an affair that finally forces Nazneen to take control of her life. Set in multicultural Britain, Brick Lane is a truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit. --© Sony Pictures Classics
[More]

Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum

Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum, Lana Rahman, Harvey Virdi, Lalita Ahmed, Zafreen

Director: Sarah Gavron

Director: Sarah Gavron
Screenwriter: Abi Morgan, Laura Jones
Producer: Alison Owen, Christopher Collins
Composer: Jocelyn Pook
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Reviews for Brick Lane

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

As Nazneen, Tannishtha Chatterjee proves to be the quiet force that drives the film, ably projecting a depth of emotion with few words.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
07/11/08
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

Its flat, static quality belies the novel's richness.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
07/11/08
Andrea Gronvall
Andrea Gronvall
Chicago Reader

While the film tackles the issue of what the concept of 'home' means for expats and emigrants, it can also be seen as a coming-of-age story for a woman in her mid-30s.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
07/09/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Ultimately hopeful, Brick Lane feels careful enough to connect with its intentions, leaving behind an engaging, turbulent picture that pays careful concentration to the tender nuances of the longing, unfulfilled heart.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
07/04/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

[The film] hits all the clichés of romantic literary adaptation: montage, letters read aloud in voice-over, a swelling musical score.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
07/04/08
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail

Sarah Gavron's adaptation of Monica Ali's novel is a thoughtful and often evocative drama of identity and assimilation...

Full Review Source: Seanax.com | comment Comment
07/03/08
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com

Sarah Gavron's adaptation of Monica Ali's novel is a thoughtful and often evocative drama of identity and assimilation...

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
07/03/08
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Adapted from the 2003 Monica Ali novel, Brick Lane is one of those feminist cries in the dark in which the heroine, a saintly sufferer, is more admirable than interesting.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
07/03/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

One of those poorly chosen movie titles that does not do justice to the beautiful story told within.

Full Review Source: Kaplan vs. Kaplan | comment Comment
07/02/08
Jeanne Kaplan
Jeanne Kaplan
Kaplan vs. Kaplan

It's a testament to Kaushik's acting ability that he turns what could have been an odious character into a quite likeable one.

Full Review Source: Kaplan vs. Kaplan | comment Comment
07/02/08
David Kaplan
David Kaplan
Kaplan vs. Kaplan

Weighty tearjerker with mature themes.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
06/30/08
S. Jhoanna Robledo
S. Jhoanna Robledo
Common Sense Media

Interview: These two incredibly insightful women (director Sarah Gavron and lead actress Tannishtha Chatterjee) talk about the essence in creating this amazing female lead and an overall perspective on the Muslim experience in London.

Full Review Source: HollywoodChicago.com | comment Comment
06/28/08
Adam Fendelman
Adam Fendelman
HollywoodChicago.com

Brick Lane has beautiful scenery and some enjoyable moments but leaves the viewer feeling the need to find the book to get the rest of the story.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
06/27/08
Peter Hartlaub
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle

Brick Lane is about characters who have depth and reality, who change and learn, who have genuine feelings. And it keeps on surprising us, right to the end.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
06/27/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lazily relies upon the book's prestige to get by.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
06/26/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Cinematical

A sensitive and occasionally poetic film, Brick Lane is an absorbing tale of personal empowerment and emotional growth.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
06/26/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

A sense of isolation and struggle for identity in an oppressive culture wash away superfluous formula, leaving a lovely tranquility in their wake.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
06/24/08
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

Little more than an old story dressed up in contemporary trappings, but in this case they elevate the formula.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
06/23/08
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Gavron coaxes good performances from her cast, and she captures the look and feel of council housing in East End London...

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
06/23/08
Rex Roberts
Rex Roberts
Film Journal International

[Chaterjee's] is a face that finds a profound eloquence in silence, transmitting an insistent intensity to the emotions revealed

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/22/08
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

Latest News for Brick Lane

January 23, 2009: A movie whose visuals are lovely to behold and lyrically awash in sensuality and desire, but sets the lives of women back at least a few centuries. Opens in new window
More...

January 19, 2009: A movie whose visuals are lovely to behold and lyrically awash in sensuality and desire, but sets the lives of women back at least a few centuries. Opens in new window
More...

June 19, 2008: Critics Consensus: Get Smart Misses by That Much, Guru Gets No Love
This week at the movies, we've got wacky spies (Get Smart, starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway) and silly self-help specialists (The Love Guru starring Mike Myers and... More...

June 18, 2008: Arranged marriage at center of cross-cultural drama set in London. Opens in new window
More...

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