x
Breaking News
More () »

'Minister of Culture' Michael Heaton reviews 'Hotel Mumbai'

'Hotel Mumbai' is a chilling and gut-wrenching dramatic recreation of a real-life event.
Credit: Courtesy Sony

What: “Hotel Mumbai”

Who: Directed by Anthony Marras. Staring Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher and Jason Isaacs.

Rated: R.

Running time: 125 minutes.

When: Opens March 29.

Where: Area theaters.

Grade: B+.

In November 2008, 10 heavily armed extremist Islamic terrorists from Pakistan, members of the Laskar e Taiba group, entered the city of Mumbai, India. First they opened fire in the city’s crowded train station, and a busy cafe and then moved on to the magnificent Taj Mahal Palace Hotel slaughtering more innocent people, staff and guests at the hotel in a series coordinated attacks that left 174 dead and more than 300 wounded over four days.

“Hotel Mumbai” is a chilling and gut-wrenching dramatic recreation of that real-life event.

The movie tells the stories of five people who endured the nightmarish ordeal.

Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”, “Lion”) plays a Sikh waiter earning money for his wife and kids. Anupam Kher plays the hotel’s head chef in charge of the staff. Jason Isaac plays a Russian businessman and Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi play an American tourist couple with a new born infant.

Think of the movie as “Die Hard” minus the Hollywood hokum and Bruce Willis bravado.

Once the terrorist arrived at the hotel they went systematically from floor to floor in an attempt to kill all the guests. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensued for days while the hotel staff and guests waited for the Indian government to send military forces to battle the terrorists.

The hotel slogan is, “The guest is God” and the staff goes to unbelievably heroic lengths to secure the safety of those unlucky enough to be staying there at the time.

Once the action begins the pulse pounding pace of “Hotel Mumbai” never lets up for a minute.

The horror of recent headlines becomes all the more poignant in the dramatic re-telling of this deadly attack. Despite the all-too-real nature of the narrative “Hotel Mumbai” finds redemption and humanity and its’ characters. It is a film well worth seeing as it speaks directly to the geopolitical problems the world faces today.

Before You Leave, Check This Out