Although well-acted and heartfelt, it provokes shrugged shoulders rather than the tears it’s clearly striving for.
Comment
11/16/07
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Brick Lane (2008)
65
%
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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.
Theatrical Release:Jun 20, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $1,010,010
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... [More]
Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum
Director: Sarah Gavron
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Reviews for Brick Lane
Tannishtha Chatterjee perfectly captures the emotional awakening of shy heroine Nazneen.
11/16/07
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10/18/08
Certainly touching, even heart-rending at times, and it mostly steers clear of the didacticism and sentimentality its subject matter often invites. But it never takes the full measure of its modest heroine, and makes her world a bit too small.
06/20/08
Top CriticInterview: 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.
06/28/08
[Chaterjee's] is a face that finds a profound eloquence in silence, transmitting an insistent intensity to the emotions revealed
06/22/08
Its flat, static quality belies the novel's richness.
07/11/08
Sarah Gavron’s Brick Lane, from a screenplay by Abi Morgan and Laura Jones, is based on the rapturously received 500-page first novel by Monica Ali.
06/18/08
Top CriticThe daily grind of a Brick Lane Bangladeshi is credibly brought to life in this sensitive and intelligent adaptation of Monica Ali’s novel.
11/14/07
The daily grind of a Brick Lane Bangladeshi is credibly brought to life in this sensitive and intelligent adaptation of Monica Ali’s novel.
03/19/08
Underwhelming.
11/16/07
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.
07/04/08
Gavron cleverly outlines the closed-in boundaries of Nazneen’s Brick Lane.
11/14/07
Brick Lane is so lovely that even a simple shot of empty hangers in a closet shimmers.
07/11/08
A sensitive and occasionally poetic film, Brick Lane is an absorbing tale of personal empowerment and emotional growth.
06/26/08
As Nazneen, Tannishtha Chatterjee proves to be the quiet force that drives the film, ably projecting a depth of emotion with few words.
07/11/08
In Brick Lane's London, Nazneen is confined by a series of small rooms and doorways, narrow streets and muted colors.
06/20/08
It's a testament to Kaushik's acting ability that he turns what could have been an odious character into a quite likeable one.
07/02/08
Quietly effective, acted with resource and directed with the kind of patient skill it needs.
11/15/07
Brick Lane, by director Sarah Gavron and Angela's Ashes screenwriter Laura Jones, is, like Mira Nair's film The Namesake, a heartfelt portrait of the new immigrant experience.
08/08/08
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. 
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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.
More...
June 19, 2008:
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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.
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