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Movies / On DVD / Enlighten Up!
Enlighten Up!

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Enlighten Up! (2009)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:19

Rotten:15

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: Enlighten Up! is a funny, warmhearted documentary that's uneven in spots, but thought-provoking nonetheless.

Runtime: 82 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Synopsis: Kate Churchill is a filmmaker and a dedicated yoga practitioner who insists that yoga can transform anyone. She decides to prove it. Her plan: select a subject, immerse him in yoga and follow him... Kate Churchill is a filmmaker and a dedicated yoga practitioner who insists that yoga can transform anyone. She decides to prove it. Her plan: select a subject, immerse him in yoga and follow him until he finds a yoga practice that transforms him. Her subject: Nick Rosen a skeptical, 29 year-old journalist living in New York City.

Intrigued by the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of a 5.7 billion dollar “spiritual” industry, Nick signs on to investigate yoga for 6 months. Before he can say OM, he finds himself twisted up like a pretzel, surrounded by celebrity yogis, true believers, kooks, entrepreneurs and a gentle teacher from Brazil who leads his class with his feet behind his head.

The more Nick investigates yoga the more contradictions he discovers, leading him to question whether yoga is anything more than a workout. As Nick searches for concrete facts and discards the lofty spiritual theories of his yoga teachers, he strays further from Kate’s original plan. The two find themselves lost in Northern India, embroiled in a struggle between Kate’s expectations and Nick’s overt rejection of “spirituality.”

They circle the globe talking to mystics, gurus, mad men and saints searching for the true meaning of yoga. Ultimately, both Nick and Kate end up in places they never could have imagined. They don’t find the answers to their questions, they find much more. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Nick Rosen

Starring: Nick Rosen

Director: Kate Churchill

Director: Kate Churchill
Story: Khari Streeter, Jonathon Hexner, Kate Churchill
Producer: Kate Churchill
Composer: Krishna Venkatesh
Studio: Balcony Releasing

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Reviews for Enlighten Up!

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21 - 34 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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A modest, sublime look at the search for truth

Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
04/20/09
Rob Humanick
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth

An alternatively funny and revealing flick which dares to knock some seemingly sacrosanct gurus off their lofty pedestals.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
04/14/09
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

Enlighten Up! is at least occasionally skeptical of the premise that true things might be articulated and disseminated.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
04/07/09
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

An April Fool's Day release may be more appropriate than the audience expected in this random collection of interviews and experiences on the heart and soul of yoga.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
04/06/09
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

Enlighten Up! tries to answer yoga's burning question - what came first, downward facing dog or spiritual dogma?

Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch? | comment Comment
04/03/09
Christian Toto
Christian Toto
What Would Toto Watch?

Moves toward an inconclusive destination while offering a few glimpses of bliss along the way.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/09
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
Boxoffice Magazine

A thought-provoking documentary that provides an up-close and personal look at the quest for spiritual meaning in yoga.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
04/02/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Has sporadically provocative and amusing moments, but remains poorly synthesized, somewhat unfocused and leaves you feeling underwhelmed and hungry for more enlightenment about yoga and spirituality.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
04/01/09
Avi Offer
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

The film doesn’t force an artificial resolution on their battle of wills, which may be the most enlightened thing about it.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
04/01/09
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
Time Out New York

Entertaining but superficial tour %u2014it never substantively differentiates the myriad of yoga options breezily presented.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
04/01/09
Nora Lee Mandel
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

Its director winds up focusing on the least interesting/most predictable tension of them all, that which arises between herself and her handpicked, inflexible star.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
04/01/09
Michelle Orange
Michelle Orange
Village Voice

Enlighten Up! explores its subject with a light touch and welcome sense of humor.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
04/01/09
Nathan Lee
Nathan Lee
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Well-crafted pic traverses the globe, interviewing a who's-who of gurus and investigating a wide range of regimens -- with Rosen as both questioner and body-contorting guinea pig.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/31/09
Ronnie Scheib
Ronnie Scheib
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A fast-moving, often humorous documentary about a young man's search for his "higher self" through yoga.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/27/09
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Film Journal International
 
 
21 - 34 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2
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