Movie Review - The Tiger Hunter

I just finished rewatching Community, a sitcom about Greendale Community College and some of its colorful inhabitants (attendees? inmates?). It's one of few the shows I faithfully watched as it aired, including its less-than-spectacular 6th season which streamed on Yahoo (yes, that Yahoo). To be fair, the 6th (and final) season wasn't as bad as I remembered. It was mostly...inconsequential, which is sad, since all the other seasons were so great. 

From this rewatch (I think it was my 3rd time?), I've decided that Abed, played by Danny Pudi, is my favorite character. His range and character growth are incredible throughout the series. He mainly plays an awkwardly adorable supernerd, but at various points he takes on completely different roles, from channeling Han Solo and Don Draper to impersonating Nicolas Cage. While not classically handsome, Pudi's puppy eyes and bright smile are quite attractive, as is the caring vibe he gives off.* The combination makes for a talented actor and an interesting TV show character. 

I ran across The Tiger Hunter (2016) on Netflix a while back and added it to my watch list when I saw Danny Pudi had a leading role. I decided to watch it Wednesday night because I'm not quite ready to be done with my Community peeps yet. 

Without giving too much away, The Tiger Hunter is about a young Indian engineer, Sami Malik (Danny Pudi). He moves to Chicago seeking fame and fortune, wanting to live up to his father's legacy and prove himself worthy of Ruby (Karen David), the woman he loves. The story follows him during his first month in the US, from making new friends, getting mugged, to finding a job and a place to live (a situation that's funny and super awkward). 

My big takeaway was it's a story about a good man figuring out what it truly means to be successful in life. The basic set up is he feels the need to fill his father's shoes, in a good way. Everyone in his village loved and thought very highly of the Tiger Hunter, including Sami...which creates a high standard he wants to reach as well. As opposed to a "living in his shadow" storyline, Sami wants to follow in his father's footsteps. 

My only critiques of the movie are Danny Pudi's Indian accent ebbs and flows a bit (he's a native of Chicago and is half Indian, half Polish) and there are a lot of secondary characters that we know almost nothing about, other than most of them are engineers of various types as well. The only exceptions are Babu (Rizwan Manji) and Napoleon Dynamite Alex (Jon Heder). The ending is also a little abrupt.** Otherwise the story is fairly tight, creating characters you like and root for without the movie feeling a little preachy. 

At just over an hour and a half, The Tiger Hunter is a pretty quick watch. If you like Danny Pudi and slightly quirky/cheesy tales about a sweet-hearted underdog, it's definitely worth watching. 

Have you watched anything new lately worth recommending? 

~ Katie Q. 🐧

Fun fact:

- General Iqbal, Ruby's father, is played by Iqbal Theba. He appears in a couple episodes of Community as Abed's (Danny Pudi) father. 

* In real life Danny Pudi has a lovely wife (Bridget; they met as freshmen in college and got married in 2004) and twins - a girl and boy - which I kind of love. I'm always glad when a celebrity I like seems to be a genuinely good, happy person. 

** SPOILER-ish WARNING: An easy change I'd have made would be showing Ruby holding Sami's letter, making it obvious she'd received it, understands what happened and knows he's on his way to California. A cheesier ending would have had him showing up at the hotel, maybe with them going for a long walk under a starry sky.