Director: Jason Wingard
Writer: David Isaac, Jason Wingard (Screenplay)
Starring: Antonio Aakeel, Jack Carroll, Asim Chandhry, Johnny Vegas, Vicki Pepperdine, Kevin Eldon, Sarah Hoare, Nitin Ganatra
Plot: When Pete and Omar lose their beloved Gran they go in search of Omar’s estranged father, confronting him on the day of his daughters engagement party.
Tagline – Two boys…three dads
Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Enjoyable Comedy
Story: Eaten by Lions starts as we follow half-brothers Omar (Aakeel) and Pete (Carroll) who have just moved into a new foster home after their Gran passes away, asking that they both look after each other. Omar wants to go in search of his real father, which Pete isn’t going to let him do alone.
The boys head to Blackpool where Omar’s estranged father is meant to live confronting him at his daughter’s engagement party, Malik (Ganatra) only to learn that it his brother Irfan (Chaudhry) is the father and he isn’t ready to be one.
Thoughts on Eaten by Lions
Characters – Omar decides to go in search for his real father after his grandmother passes away, he learns that he is the son of a rebellious member of a big Indian family and does everything he can to help Pete through the days. Pete is the half-brother of Omar, they were raised together, he doesn’t let his disability get in his way and is happy to talk he way through each situation he finds himself. Irfan is the father of Omar, he is a laidback man that isn’t ready to be a father and only shows himself to be a bad example to the boys. The rest of the characters we meet are the family that Omar is sudden thrown into and the friendly local that helps the boys out when they need help.
Performances – Antonio Aakeel does give us the reserved performance needed for his character being the straight-talking shy of the two brothers. Jack Carroll gets nearly all the laugh through his confident character, the two show excellent chemistry together. Asim Chaudhry gets laughs too showing us how he can play this role for laughs.
Story – The story follows two half-brothers raised together and with different father with different culture backgrounds that decide to go in search for one of their real fathers, this sees them heading to Blackpool and meet his father and testing his loyalty to his half-brother. This does show how brothers can come from different parents and will always be there for them, you true family will always be willing to let you in and moving on from losing a parental figure can become very difficult. The way this story is told does give us plenty of laughs and gives both boys an adventure.
Comedy – The comedy in the film does get plenty of laughs with Pete and Irfan getting most of the laughs through the film.
Settings – The film is mostly set in Blackpool, which does give us a chance to see the iconic boardwalk and tower.
Scene of the Movie – The party.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The awkward racism from the foster parents.
Final Thoughts – This is a delightfully entertaining comedy that could be enjoyed by all and shows how cultures can clash with ease.
Overall: Fun and entertaining.
