[rating=7.00]
There’s something I found very strongly off-putting in the opening moments of The Tiger Hunter, a film by writer/director Lena Khan. Told through flashback, and narrated by the character of Sami (Danny Pudi, in a very distracting Indian accent), he tells of his father, a great warrior, and titular tiger hunter. He saved a village, the people love and adore him, his son is in awe.
It’s an almost got a Bollywood by way of Wes Anderson structure of these opening moments, with stoic characters and saturated colors. So much so that it’s a little jarring when it drops you in the film’s present tense, set in the 1970s, which introduces us to a grown-up Sami. He still lives in the shadow of his father and works in an electronics repair shop, where he allows his customers to trade for his service, or waving the bill outright out of kindness.
Then, after receiving a letter from a large industrial firm stateside, Sami is off to America to build his fortune, and become a man of stature enough to win the affections of Ruby (Karen David), and more importantly, her father (General Iqubal – who played Pudi’s father in Community) so they can be married.
It isn’t until Sami gets to America, discovers there’s no engineering job waiting for him, that the movie really starts to find his legs. He takes a temp job in drafting down in the basement, and after learning of the company’s problem developing their newest device, a microwave that can handle frozen food, he embarks on a quest to solve it himself.
There’s even a brief, clever montage that plays out like an ode to the American desire for convenience, and how the microwave epitomizes that. It plays out like the kind of moment that would’ve been better served in the film’s opening, bringing things into focus and giving Sami a distinct purpose.
After eventually settling into its groove, the usual sitcom-style antics begin to play out, starting with Ruby and her father coming to America in order to find her a proper suitor. Despite the vague predictability of how the film continues to play out, a real charm surfaces, the result of Khan’s clever, conventional take on big-screen comedy.
The cameos from the likes of Kevin Pollak, John Heder, and a hilarious (and underused) Michael McMillian do wonders in rounding out the film’s supporting characters, with Pudi’s likable charm holding it all together.