Amar, Akbar, and Tony Netflix Movie Review

Amar, Akbar, and Tony (2017)

Watch Amar, Akbar, and Tony on Netflix
Written by: Atul Malhotra (story, writer)
Directed by: Atul Malhotra
Starring: Rez Kempton, Sam Vincenti, Martin Delaney
Rated: TV-MA

Plot
Set in contemporary London, a trio of childhood friends face unforeseen changes to their lives as adults, such as interracial marriage, near-fatal accidents, and prison. These trials test old friendships and family values. This is the first western film to feature a turbaned Sikh in the lead.

Verdict
This throws a lot of story lines at you hoping one sticks. They don't. It starts as a buddy comedy before quickly devolving into Amar picking up the pieces of his life after being in jail. That plot is still punctuated by attempts at humor. Amar's story line could be good, but it's overshadowed by the pointless and trite arcs of his two friends.
Skip it.

Review
This seems like a buddy comedy at first with three guys who grow up together despite their religious differences. Amar is a Sheik, Akbar is a Muslim, and Tony is a Catholic. This escalates quickly to Amar going to jail. I would think he had a good claim of self defense, but in this movie who knows.

Fast forward to three years later. Amar is out of jail, trying to fix his life despite the obstacles he now faces, but the movie never delves into his character, instead following the lives of all three. Their individual plot lines aren't really connected. This doesn't explore their differences. It's a very shallow movie.
Akbar becomes engaged to a woman from a different religion and Tony is used as terrible comic relief, a white guy always out of his element. It's not that Tony is outright terrible, but what is this movie? A comedy or a drama? Tony hinders the story I find most interesting, Amar's.

This could head in the direction of The Night of (2016)  (read my review) with Amar, but it never intends to go very deep. This movie doesn't want to say anything, unless it's 'can't we all get along,' but that theme has been done plenty and better. Focusing just on Amar could have made this better, or even creating a plot that includes the three of them together. This seems like three unfinished movies were combined. There is too much story to fully develop anything worthwhile.