'The Namesake' will move you

I went to see a very touching movie yesterday, called "The Namesake." It really stayed with me, and I want to recommend it.

A quick plot summary, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies:

"When the the Ganguli family moves from Calcutta to New York, they embark upon a lifelong balancing act to meld into a new world without forgetting the old. Though parents Ashoke and Ashima long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children. Paradoxically, their son Gogol is torn between finding his own unique identity without losing his heritage. Even Gogol's name represents the family's journey into the unknown."

While the movie (based on a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri) tells the story of this family, it also tells the story of many families -- the relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, our connections with our friends and our co-workers. It's about the pain of love affairs that fail and the joy and excitement of love that can be exchanged in a simple glance. And, as the title implies, it's about our individual histories -- where we come from, what it means to us, and how we choose (or refuse) to honor it.

Dudes, while there is no gun fire and no car chases, it's still an engrossing movie you can go see with your girl without feeling like you're stuck in a chick flick. Besides, one of the main themes of the movie is a father's relationship with his son. (And the movie's women are beautiful.) Ladies, there's romance and passion to make you sigh and tragedy and regrets to make you cry, all played out on a background of luscious India and fascinating New York.

But most of all, "The Namesake" will make you re-examine your own family -- and don't be surprised if you suddenly want to tell them how much you love them.