Movie Review: The Kite Runner

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Emotionally engaging, streamlined story

Cons: One crucial plot point left out

The Bottom Line:

Fans of book, drama

Will find this film appealing

Not for everyone

"Do You Want Me to Run the Kite for You?"

When I finally got around to reading The Kite Runner a couple months ago, I was disappointed. I felt the book didn't live up to its hype. Mostly, that was because I found the plot slow and predictable. And since movies have to streamline a plot, I thought the movie version might be better. Unfortunately, it has its own issues.

Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are two boys growing up in 1970's Afghanistan. Even though Hassan is the son of Amir's family servant, the two are close friends. They even make a great team in the annual kite tournament, and Hassan has shown a remarkable talent for chasing the fallen kites.

Tragedy strikes the boys during the winter of 1978, however, when Amir witnesses the neighborhood bullies performing an unspeakable act on Hassan. Racked with guilt, Amir withdraws from Hassan.

When the Soviets invade Afghanistan, Amir and his Baba (Homayoun Ershadi) move to San Francisco. As an adult, Amir (now played by Khalid Abdalla) has managed to put his past behind him. Until a phone call brings it all back. What will he do now?

The movie deals with complex themes of relationships, regret, forgiveness, and even prejudice and revenge. However, they don't come across as strongly as they could. That's because the movie must condense the story of the novel into a decent running time. As boys, Amir and Hassan had a complex relationship, and the movie really glosses over that. Still, enough of their relationship is shown to make the movie work.

I was glad I read the book first. Several important points are mentioned only in passing, which could lead to confusion if you aren't familiar with the story. I don't think I would have gotten it quite as well if the story weren't fresh in my mind.

The emotional impact snuck up on me. I wasn't as involved at the beginning as I expected to be. However, about half way through, events started to really get to me. One scene in particular surprised me by the tears it brought.

The streamlined story presented here is better in the second half. I felt the book often lost its focus in all the details. However, one plot point near the end is completely forgotten. While it would have added a lot of time to the already two hour plus movie, the result is that the last 10 or 15 minutes make no sense.

The movie is almost all in Farsi with English sub-titles. Even when the setting moves to San Francisco, I'd say at least half of these scenes are sub-titled. My only complaint here was that once or twice, the lines moved so quickly I couldn't keep up.

I have seen much praising the work of the boys in this film. Maybe it was because I was too busy reading the sub-titles to watch them, but I found their performances a little stiff. It seemed to me like they were reciting lines and didn't really have much emotion behind them.

The rest of the cast is fine, however. I found the adult Amir wonderful in his role. The part calls for quite a few different emotions, and I thought he handled them all expertly. The actor playing Baba did an excellent job as well, going from a middle aged to an old man. Frankly, the boys were the only weak spot in a cast of relative unknowns.

And I must comment on the kite flying scenes. While obviously computer generated, the scenes were wonderful to watch. The camera work was brilliant, and they had a magical quality I wasn't expecting.

As with the book, this movie has some very tough scenes. They are artfully handled, but what is happening is obvious. As a result, this movie is not light entertainment and will only appeal to those interested in emotional drama.

For a while, I thought the film might surpass the book in my eyes, but that missing plot point at the end really bothers me. As a result, The Kite Runner turns out to be an average adaptation of an average book.