Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 27 February 2019
'The Wedding Guest' is a quirky but thin rom-com

By MARK KENNEDY maddeningly thin on back-
Associated Press story or any revealing dia-
No one going to see "The logue. We never learn why
Wedding Guest" should ex- Jay is so proficient with
pect a typical rom-com. weapons and SIM cards or
The always-likable Dev Pa- what he thinks about really
tel does star in it as a hunky anything. We never learn
guy who travels to a wed- much about Samira, either,
ding party but he's not or plumb the depths of her
been invited and he really unhappiness.
ruins the wedding. Winterbottom seems to
That's because he's want us to see them just
brought along not a taste- as they are now, rushing
ful 10-piece bakeware from Mumbai to Delhi to
set as a gift for the happy Goa, taking cars, trains,
couple but duct tape, fake mopeds and buses. Many
passports, some guns and scenes are silent or con-
zip ties. His hope is to put tain just a few words. ("We
the bride in his trunk. have to go," is barked mul-
Michael Winterbottom, the tiple times.) It is a film that
director of "24 Hour Party requires careful watching
People" and "A Mighty to try to unlock the body
Heart," has channeled language and determine if
Quentin Tarantino for his there is a double-cross or a
latest, a sparse and often This image released by IFC Films shows Dev Patel in a scene from "The Wedding Guest." romance brewing.
quiet love story set against Associated Press Patel and Apte have a
some of the most crowded slow-burning chemistry.
spots in Pakistan and India. aspect of the film but it's which we are told is "the ing to plan and the kidnap- Their characters didn't
The poster for the film is a much slower than that. perfect place to get lost." ping plot quickly unravels, exactly meet-cute — re-
little misleading, with Pa- "The Wedding Guest " has Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire" forcing Jay and Samira, member the zip ties and
tel in full menacing mode actually got a thin story, but and "Lion") plays a mysteri- now weirdly teammates, to duct tape? — and rushing
beside an ominous look- one saved by great acting ous guy named Jay who scramble. Will they become from hotel room to bus sta-
ing fire (look close: Is that and electric footage, from goes to Pakistan from the something more than cap- tions isn't exactly condu-
a body?). There is violence the rooftops in Amritsar United Kingdom to kidnap tive and mercenary? Will cive to emotional connec-
onscreen, but this is not to the crowded streets of bride-to-be Samira (a rivet- her family and the police tion. Above all, they are
"Reservoir Dogs." The trailer Jaipur, as our heroine and ing Radhika Apte). catch up to them? smooth, cool, resourceful
also pumps up the thriller hero travel through India, But things don't go accord- Winterbottom's script is and unruffled.q

Frederick Douglass biography among

Lukas prize nominees

the J. Anthony Lukas Book
Prize and the Mark Lynton
History Prize.
Smarsh is a finalist for the
Lukas Book Prize and Blight
for the Lynton History Prize,
each worth $10,000. The
work-in-progress prize, for
a book still being written,
awards $25,000 apiece to
two authors.
Other Lukas book prize
nominees are Shane Bau-
er's "American Prison," How-
ard Blum's "In the Enemy's
House," Lauren Hilgers'
In this Sept. 5, 2018, photo, journalist Sarah Smarsh speaks during "Patriot Number One" and
interview at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine, Kan. Chris McGreal's "American
Associated Press Overdose."
Winners will be announced
NEW YORK (AP) — David merit. March 20. The Lukas
W. Blight's biography of On Tuesday, the Colum- awards, established in
Frederick Douglass and bia Journalism School and 1998, are named for the
Sarah Smarsh's "Heartland" the Nieman Foundation for late author and investiga-
are among the nominees Journalism at Harvard Uni- tive journalist. The Lynton
for awards celebrating versity announced shortlists prize is named for the late
nonfiction books of social for the J. Anthony Lukas businessman and refugee
consciousness and literary Work-in-Progress Awards, from Nazi Germany.q