1982 - Gandhi

Jon: I don't like historical profiles - readers need to know this up front. However, it was pretty unbelievable how much Ben Kingsley actually resembled Gandhi. A white guy playing an Indian has to be extremely difficult (CORRECTION - He is 50% Indian). His accent and his delivery were outstanding, but for all his mastery of the technical aspects, he seemed to be lacking charisma. Perhaps Gandhi himself was not very charismatic, but parts of the movie dragged and I dozed off a few times. Overall, the movie did a great job of telling his incredible story, but it just was not as captivating as I expected. Grade B-

Lyndsay: Jon doesn't like history, so he is biased. I thought the movie was a slow, brooding one, but excellent. The representation of events was well portrayed and didn't seem dramatized for cinematic effect. I will say, Gandhi's movement and Indian independence had such worldy significance that was not given such in the movie. It leaves you feeling informed on the subject but not aching to go out and share what you learned. Grade B