Basmati Blues

"The Playlist" called this Brie Larson-starring comedy/drama musical set in India "weird" based on its trailer. And they wouldn't be wrong. With songs by Pearl Jam, Sugarland and others, "Basmati Blues" is about a brilliant scientist (Larson) who goes to India to convince local rice farmers to invest in a hybrid rice genetically engineered to be healthier. However, when she gets to this foreign land she realizes that the company she works for (Mogil - get it?) doesn't have the best interests of the farmers in mind.

There is nothing entirely new about the story here, but what is head scratching is the inclination to make it an indie musical. Furthermore, why were these well-respected songwriters interested in being a part of the project? Because that's the thing: The songs are great. The movie, however, is not.

Academy Award Winner Larson tries her best as earnest scientist Linda, but as scenes go by she keeps switching her reactions and tone to what's going on. At once she is the clumsy, always-smiling, doe-eyed fish out of water that doesn't really seem to be at all surprised or shocked by what she sees in India. She just sort of takes it in stride with a smile. Then she's the plucky smart scientist who wants to do the right thing.

Early on she meets Rajit (Utkarsh Ambudkar from "Pitch Perfect") on a train and then finds out he's also a rice farmer who is part of the family she is going to be staying with. She also meets William (gorgeous Saahil Sehgal,) the "villain" who is both the potential cock-block for Rajit as well as the one who might go along with Mogil's devious plans. Caught in this love triangle, Linda doesn't seem particularly interested in either one of these gentlemen and is only passingly interested in the culture. She learns how to dance (she's terrible) and learns some customs, but it all seems superficial and doesn't add to the story.

The story is pretty drab for a musical, and while the songs are all fairly catchy they seem to come and go out of nowhere, not to mention the editing tends to short-shrift them or confuse the matter with wild cinematography and choreography. (Larson's opening song that she warbles down the streets of New York looks like a five-year-old singing the theme to "Sesame Street" while skipping down the sidewalk to pre-school.)

There are cringe-worthy turns by both Donald Sutherland as the evil tycoon (he can't sing, guys) and Tyne Daly as his cohort, Evelyn, who seems to think the movie is campier than it is. They both have a musical number that looks like badly lit crowd control.

The story works itself out in forced and expected ways and nothing here is earned. There is no chemistry between the leads, and while India certainly looks beautiful, we don't get enough of Linda experiencing this new world. (She literally admits she doesn't like to leave her city block, so this should be a wallop for her.)

I'd suggest streaming the soundtrack because it's fairly catchy, but as for the movie, you might find you get the Basmati Blues yourself.