Written and Directed by Bala Rajasekharuni

Running Time: 1:40

Not Rated

D

Starring
Vikram Dasu
as Murali

Purva Bedi
as Bharathi

Deep Katdare
as Omjeet Singh Purewal

Chayton Arvin
as Ram

Robert Lin
as Chan

Subash Kundanmal
as Dada

THE OPENING

While the three leads were certainly up to par, on a whole Green Card Fever was a mess.

THE STORY

Murali wants a green card to stay in the country. First he tries going to a lawyer, only to be rejected because he's here illegally to begin with. Then he tries to go through another method but ends up in the middle of a scam perpetrated by a lawyer and another fellow Indian. Along the way he meets a girl that he starts to fall in love with and manages to teach a lot of people some lessons.

THE REVIEW

Green Card Fever at its heart is a simple movie about a guy who only wants to make something of himself in America. He's stopped at every turn by a corrupt legal system and eventually ends up fighting for both himself and others. The problem is the movie meanders in so many different directions, it loses track of its point. It's like the writer/director had so many points he wanted to make, he decided to force them all into one short film. The lawyer had to help his grandfather help other illegal immigrants while arguing with his father about his 'Indian-ness' and at the same time was dragged into a case dealing with a corrupt attorney. The 'girl' had to deal with her parents wanting her to get arranged while dealing with her white boyfriend parading her around as the token brown girl in his group, while also dealing with Murali and his situation. The main story of Murali wanting a green card and the reasons behind it got lost in the mess.

The production values were amateur at best and the acting, beyond the three leads, was downright scary. It would be impossible to go through each character individually so let's just say reality television has better performances. The three leads, Deep Katdate, Purva Bedi and Vikram Dasu all rose above the pedestrian script and at times I felt bad for them when they were forced to interact with the rest of the cast. You could almost sense that they knew they had to carry the rest of the actors and the pressure was on their faces. Unfortunately, Deep and Purva didn't have any scenes together, so there was a lot of times when they were the life raft in the middle of the ocean.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Overall, Green Card Fever had an interesting idea behind it, but the presentation was very, very off. A more streamlined film that focused more on the major story and didn't veer off into a dozen different directions would have made a much better film. That and getting a supporting cast that could act.


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reviewed 08/20/03

© 2003 Wolfpack Productions

Wolfpack Productions