Minari - Movie Review

Critic Score - 8 of 10

General Audience Score - 6 of 10

IMDB description of Minari is “A Korean family starts a farm in 1980s Arkansas.” How well does that concept convert into a full length feature film? And is it a Best Picture contender?

PROS - Minari is a simple, clean, deliberately paced and easy to digest movie. The movie follows David, a young boy and his sister, parents and eventually his grandmother as they experience life on an American farm. Some of the situations David and his family encounter are quite amusing and I found myself chuckling, if not heartily laughing, quite often. Some films suffer from a lack of plot lines and twists, some have way to many. This film doesn't have many, but the characters, dialogue and story are engaging enough to carry the film along, without getting bogged down by needless additional drama.

The entire ensemble of actors is very well cast and the acting is pretty great. The interactions between David and his grandmother are high points of the film. The cinematography is gorgeous for a few sequences, mainly the ones that take place outside, but underwhelming the remainder of the film. As we follow this family though the film, there are many things that critics especially will find delight in. But will all audiences find that same delight along with them?

CONS - Despite the many things that can be gleaned from this film that skew heavily towards the positive, it has it's flaws. Many will find the journey David and his family on to be quite a boring one, even if they find the humor and drama to be fine. The lack of plot lines will undoubtedly leave many wondering how much longer the films' run time is when it's only a third or halfway through. The pacing is definitely slower than it needs to be at times and the film suffers for it.

Although Minari will enjoy heaps of praise among critics groups, the average movie goer will probably not hear about this film from family or friends as many won't make the effort to view it. As it's almost entirely in a foreign language and doesn't have nearly the level of intrigue or hype as, say, last years' Parasite, this movie will fly under the radar for a majority of people.

SUMMARY - There aren't many films as simple and delightful as Minari. It's got a lot going for it but in the areas it does fall short it will lose many average viewers and won't get much traction from word of mouth spread. Getting a Best Picture nomination will be difficult. Some will enjoy Minari immensely while others will fall asleep, your enjoyment will depend of what kinds of movies you prefer. But if you enjoy being outside, long walks in the fields and woods, take a walk with this film, you may just find some Minari to enjoy.