More often than not, when I see a movie that was adapted from a novel I am usually disappointed.  That is definitely not the case with the movie I saw last night, The Namesake.  I originally posted on this book about 2 years ago and upon rereading my post, I remember that I was a little disappointed with the character development.  The strength of the movie and one of the many reasons that it was FANTASTIC was that Mira Nair, the director, beautifully developed all of the characters.  She really made you feel as if you were part of the Gangul family.  Her portrayal of family was not as a 3rd person observer; this was one of those films where you felt that you were immersed in all the personalities, conflicts and issues of the characters.  The cinematography was stunning and the scenes shot in India really captured what I imagine India to be like.  The beautiful costumes, music and even the lilting accents brought this story to life.  This movie not only got across its varying message of clashing cultures, how a name defines you, the identity struggle of many immigrants but it was also one of the movies that I would call an “escape.”  It made me completely forget about my little world for a couple hours and escape into that of an Indian family living in America.  Bravo.