When the film began, I noticed right away something that surely must have upset many Pakistanis when the film debuted...the man playing Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the Father of their country, was played by the very English Christopher Lee! While Ben Kingsly was part Indian by heritage (and he played the lead in "Gandhi"), Lee was too tall and English...in a movie that is essentially anti-English!
Now as far as the film goes, it is VERY unusual in style as it bounces about sequentially. Using a very strange plot device, the dead Jinnah is asked to do a post-mortem on his life by a guy who you must assume is some sort of heavenly messenger. As such, Jinnah's life is discussed and highlights of his career are mentioned. But, given how important he was and what a long life he had, it all felt very episodic to me and easily could have been a mini-series. So, despite nice production values and a nice film, it seems superficial and incomplete. Good but just too much for one movie to encapsulate.
Now as far as the film goes, it is VERY unusual in style as it bounces about sequentially. Using a very strange plot device, the dead Jinnah is asked to do a post-mortem on his life by a guy who you must assume is some sort of heavenly messenger. As such, Jinnah's life is discussed and highlights of his career are mentioned. But, given how important he was and what a long life he had, it all felt very episodic to me and easily could have been a mini-series. So, despite nice production values and a nice film, it seems superficial and incomplete. Good but just too much for one movie to encapsulate.