Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageMachan (2009)
Director: Uberto Pasolini
Movie review
From Time Out London
A comic story of mismatched losers who lift themselves out of the poverty trap by learning a new and surprising skill… Sound familar? It should: Uberto Pasolini produced ‘The Full Monty’ and makes his directing debut with this strikingly similar, true tale of the first Sri Lankan National Handball Team.When their visa application to Germany is rejected, Stanley and Manoj seem destined to spend their lives hustling on the streets of Colombo. Until Stanley stumbles across a bizarre ad: the German Handball Association is seeking teams to attend the world championships in Bavaria. The only catch: no one in Sri Lanka has heard of the game.
With its twinkly underdog charm sugarcoating a surprisingly direct indictment of global immigration policy, ‘Machan’ seems eager to evade the lazy feelgood trap, but a last-act stumble into sports-triumph territory undermines Pasolini’s clear affinity – and sympathy– for his subject.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out London Issue 2048: 19-25 November, 2009
User reviews of this film
-
- noddy said...
- Posted on Nov 20 2009 17:35 Came across this enchanting film by chance. Why doesn't it have wider distribution than dreary mush like Bright Star?
- Report as inappropriate
Now showing
This film is showing at these cinemas near Leicester Square, Greater London
[change location]
Cast & crew
Director: Uberto Pasolini
Cast: Dharmapriya Dias, Gihan de Chickera, Dharshari Dharmaraj
Genre(s): Comedy
Rated: 15
Duration: 108 mins
UK Release: Nov 20 2009
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now