Rating: Rated PG-13 for some violence, sexual content and language.
Runtime: 163 minutes
Rotten Tomatoes: 6.7/10, 80%
Starting about a third of the way through the movie, I felt like I was watching one big hyperbole. In this movie, no twist of the extraordinary is impossible. The message of My Nam is Khan is one that incredibly important to all Americans today, especially in the wake of the controversy over the group zero mosque and Reverend Jones. But I am afraid the message might be lost on most movie-watching Americans. The extreme cases portrayed in nearly impossible juxtapositions made it easy for anyone to say these things just don’t happen and to trivialize the violence that Muslims did face following 9/11.
Of course, this is a film with two Bollywood actors, which automatically makes it a little over the top. The one good thing about this movie’s extremity, is that it puts the viewer in uncomfortable situations through the guise of Rizvan Khan’s Asperger’s Syndrome, like the time when Khan begins praying in Arabic at a memorial service for 9/11 victims.
Despite all of this, at the end of the 2 hours and 40 minutes, the ending was fairly satisfying. Perhaps it was the inspiring music or the way the closing lines were spoken in the beautiful Hindi language. My Name is Khan certainly wouldn’t be on the top of my movie list, but if you’re looking for a movie that’s a little off, can look beyond the unrealistic events to see the deeper message, and don’t mind spending nearly three hours getting the same message from minute 5 to 160, you might want to pick it up.
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