Meet the Patels

'MEET THE PATELS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A comedic documentary flick; about an Indian-American actor, who's been single most of his life, that agrees to allow his traditional parents, to set him up with a potential bride (on a trip to India). The film was directed by Ravi Patel (who also stars in the movie), and his sister Geeta. Geeta also filmed most of the documentary, in really poor quality video, and her footage is mixed with comedic animated sequences too (explaining unfilmed plot points). The film is interesting, and funny; it also has a great leading man performance, in Ravi Patel.

Ravi Patel is a 29-year-old actor; who's played a lot of clichéd Indian-American 'bit parts' (in many movies). He's been single most of his life, and just broke up with his first girlfriend (Audrey Wauchope); due to a fear his parents wouldn't accept her (Audrey is an American redhead). On a trip with his family to India, he decides to allow his parents (Vasant and Chapa), to set him up with an Indian girl; in the traditional Indian family way. The film examines the concept of arranged couples, while Ravi's sister (Geeta) films the whole thing (she's also been single most of her life).

The movie is interesting, in a very comedic (but informative) way. It's also extremely personal at times; and Ravi Patel is very funny, and charming. I enjoyed the movie, quite a bit, but it's a little hard for me to believe it's all completely genuine. Like a lot of modern documentary films, the movie seems more like really creative performance art; than like watching real people (acting completely genuine), in completely real situations (it seems at least partially staged). But I love performance art, I practice it a lot myself; and I love entertaining documentary flicks, like this, too.

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This very cute movie follows Indian actor Ravi Patel's adventures in dating, as, after breaking up with his adorably geeky white girlfriend he allows his parents to usher him into the world of Indian semi-arranged marriage, dating women all over the country as his sister documents his adventure and chats with him as both sister and interrogator.

The elaborate dating system he enters is quite interesting, and his eager-to-help parents are lovely people. The movie has a number of cute animated sequences, and as the movie progresses we learn a little about the behind-camera sister's own dating life.

One thing about this movie - I'm not sure I like Ravi all that much. He comes across as an overly picky commitment-phobe whose vision of the ideal influences the way he treats women. He's not terrible, the movie does confront this issues to some extent, and I appreciate that he was willing to show himself this honestly, but still, I was a bit put off by him at times.

Still, this is informative and funny and nicely paced.

It's a documentary, but at the same time the narrative does not act as one.

Ravi is feeling the pressure of being a about to turn 30 year old Indian-American man, who as far as his parents are concern has never even been on a date, cause he hid his 2 year relationship with a white American girl from them. After Ravi breaks up with her he attempts to give Indian culture style dating a try to please the very large family that thinks he should be married with kids by now.

It's a hysterical look at how cultures differ, but at the core stay the same, as Ravi deals with parents who feel that his happiness would be with the perfect Indian wife, his struggle with being both culturally Indian and American, and his annoying older sister, Geeta who thought it would be a good idea to document his turmoil.

It is one of the best comedies I have seen. Through her brother, Geeta attempts to document how Indian dating culture is different from American culture, Yet what she accomplished was creating a narrative that's relatable down to the core.

It'a a fun comedy, every minute was enjoyable, it was funny throughout.

"Meet the Patels" (2014 release; 88 min.) brings the story of Ravi Patel (TV actor best known for his work in Past Lives , and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and his quest for the perfect mate. As the movie opens, we see an animated sequence in which Ravi is telling us what's been going on. We then go back 2 years, when he and his parents and sister go on a family vacation to India. And that it is a "family" vacation becomes all too clear as it turns out in his dad's home village of Gujarat, most people are names Patel. Eventually Ravi decides to try the matchmaking skills of his parents (who themselves married in an arranged wedding). Will Ravi find his perfect mate? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is a labor of love for Ravi and his sister Geeta Patel, who co-directed. With little or no budget, they film the dating adventures or Ravi for over 2 years. And where the camera failed to capture an important moment it is filled in by a surprisingly charming animation. Did I tell you that the Patel parents are in the movie? "Almost 30, never married: Code Red!" is how Ravi describes himself. His dad came to the US in 1967, and obviously has done very well for himself. He is also a doting dad, always ready, willing and able to give advice to his kids, whether they want it or not. There are plenty of hilarious scenes in the first half of the movie, to the obvious enjoyment of the theater audience. The second half of the movie is not so much laugh-out-loud funny, but more a reflection on the importance of family. Please note: you do NOT have to be Indian or Indian-American to enjoy this movie (I am not). There is a surprising amount of great music placement throughout the film, including MIA, Hot Chocolate, Soup Purpose, and many others. This movie was first released at the 2014 Los Angeles Film festival. No idea why this has been sitting on the shelves for over a year before finally getting released in theaters...

"Meet the Patels" opened this weekend out of the blue at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati without any pre-release advertising or hype. I love a good documentary, and so I checked it out. The early evening screening where I saw this at was attended much better than I had anticipated, and I should point out that there were quite a few from the Indian community here in Cincinnati. This is a light-hearted documentary that flew by in no time. If you like documentaries or a glimpse at the dating scene in the Indian-American community, you cannot go wrong with this. "Meet the Patels" is worth checking out!

Greetings again from the darkness. These days the topic of racism is usually only addressed in the form of hatred and closed mindedness. This documentary/comedy looks at how racism within a culture is sometimes not only acceptable, but even encouraged as a tradition … and somehow it makes some sense.

You might recognize Ravi Patel. He is an actor from Transformers and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", and here his real life search for a wife is the focus – as is the cultural contrasts between his roots in India and his single life in the United States. Ravi co-directs with his sister Geeta Patel, though Ravi is predominantly on screen while Geeta spend her time operating the camera … while simultaneously jabbing and prodding her 29 year old brother with questions on his dating approach.

The movie picks up when Ravi has recently split with his long time girlfriend, Audrey Wauchope. Despite being very close with his parents, there is one reason Ravi never informed them of the relationship: Audrey is a white girl, not an Indian. Ravi's parents are the product of an arranged marriage, the long-standing cultural tradition that not only matches male and female Indians, but takes it a step further by only pairing up Patels with roots in the same small geographic area of India. It's a form of selective mating that dates back many generations.

Things get interesting and the laughs pick up as Ravi agrees to let his parents work the Indian dating network so that he can test out their traditions – in hopes of finding a match as well-suited as what theirs is. This process begins with "biodata"; a type of personal resume submitted by boys and girls – a precursor to the meet-up.

It really plays like a home movie, or a video journal, as Geeta films Ravi on dates and directly after, as he provides feedback on whether it was a good match. There is also a creative use of black & white animation to fill in the interview gaps where only Ravi's audio is available.

The family quest to find a mate for Ravi provides some interesting and entertaining insight into the culture, but the best parts of the film come courtesy of the parents. The mother and father are exceptionally intelligent and very loving and engaged in supporting the success of their kids. Whenever the film drags a bit, a scene with either parent picks us right back up. It's their commitment to the cause that highlights the cultural customs and challenges faced by immigrants as they struggle to get in step with American society while holding onto the tradition they so respect.