Mystic Masseur Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)May 3rd, 2002
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Merchant without Ivory - it's like drinking rotten, spoiled milk sans the disgusting lumps. I know some people out there enjoy the films this dynamic duo have made, but I've not yet met any of these folks. I have one friend who, hand to God, falls asleep at the mere mention of their names. For the longest time he thought their production company was called "Merchant Eye," because he was always in dreamland before the last syllable was uttered.
Since hitting it big with A Room With a View, Howard's End and The Remains of the Day, the filmmaking pair have churned out tedious crap like Jefferson in Paris, Surviving Picasso and The Golden Bowl. This time, Ismail Merchant (he's usually the producer to James Ivory's director) has a go behind the camera, and the result is The Mystic Masseur, a somewhat interesting film that may have been palatable if it weren't so damn long.
Masseur is based on recent Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul's 1957 novel (adapted by Caryl Phillips) and focuses on the life of Ganesh (Aasif Mandvi, Oz), who makes the incredible transformation from fired schoolteacher to politician while living in 1945 Trinidad. Most of the film takes place within the Indian community of the Caribbean island, and as the film opens, Ganesh has returned to this area after the death of his father. At first, he tries to follow in his late father's footsteps by becoming a masseur. Then he decides he wants to be a writer. Along the way he marries a barren woman (Ayesha Dharker) and reestablishes a close relationship with an old aunt (Zohra Sehgal) who makes noises like a parrot. If that isn't odd enough, there's also a man who tries to have sex with his bicycle.
Masseur is narrated by a character who is so minor that you most likely will completely forget about him. The only thing worth staying awake for here is the performance of Mandvi, who successfully portrays the growth of his character and, more specifically, the evolution of his character's self-confidence.
1:53 - PG for mild language
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