Meet the Patels

This very cute movie follows Indian actor Ravi Patel's adventures in dating, as, after breaking up with his adorably geeky white girlfriend he allows his parents to usher him into the world of Indian semi-arranged marriage, dating women all over the country as his sister documents his adventure and chats with him as both sister and interrogator.

The elaborate dating system he enters is quite interesting, and his eager-to-help parents are lovely people. The movie has a number of cute animated sequences, and as the movie progresses we learn a little about the behind-camera sister's own dating life.

One thing about this movie - I'm not sure I like Ravi all that much. He comes across as an overly picky commitment-phobe whose vision of the ideal influences the way he treats women. He's not terrible, the movie does confront this issues to some extent, and I appreciate that he was willing to show himself this honestly, but still, I was a bit put off by him at times.

Still, this is informative and funny and nicely paced.

'MEET THE PATELS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A comedic documentary flick; about an Indian-American actor, who's been single most of his life, that agrees to allow his traditional parents, to set him up with a potential bride (on a trip to India). The film was directed by Ravi Patel (who also stars in the movie), and his sister Geeta. Geeta also filmed most of the documentary, in really poor quality video, and her footage is mixed with comedic animated sequences too (explaining unfilmed plot points). The film is interesting, and funny; it also has a great leading man performance, in Ravi Patel.

Ravi Patel is a 29-year-old actor; who's played a lot of clichéd Indian-American 'bit parts' (in many movies). He's been single most of his life, and just broke up with his first girlfriend (Audrey Wauchope); due to a fear his parents wouldn't accept her (Audrey is an American redhead). On a trip with his family to India, he decides to allow his parents (Vasant and Chapa), to set him up with an Indian girl; in the traditional Indian family way. The film examines the concept of arranged couples, while Ravi's sister (Geeta) films the whole thing (she's also been single most of her life).

The movie is interesting, in a very comedic (but informative) way. It's also extremely personal at times; and Ravi Patel is very funny, and charming. I enjoyed the movie, quite a bit, but it's a little hard for me to believe it's all completely genuine. Like a lot of modern documentary films, the movie seems more like really creative performance art; than like watching real people (acting completely genuine), in completely real situations (it seems at least partially staged). But I love performance art, I practice it a lot myself; and I love entertaining documentary flicks, like this, too.

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Toronto has the highest ratio of Indian people compared to any other North American city.. Literally more indians then caucasians...This is probably why this movie doesn't apply to me... It's really nothing like the movie depicts here..

Parents are not that strict here. I was totally able to bring girls over or have them call me.. And I was no exception every other gujarati person was able to.. This was a little odd to me that every one in the movie said the same thing.. American vs Canadian Gujarati are totally different. Big time.

However it was enjoyable definitely funny! Worth the watch especially if you are from Gujarat especially a Patel!

People pleasing, indecisiveness, general inexperience, a little un-savvy--and caught in a very strict, very traditional, but no longer quite functional system--omg. This movie in so many ways relates to my experience as a white girl in the American South, uber Christian.

Sure, it would be great if this kid knew himself more, was sure of what he wanted, and went after it tenaciously. But he is evolving slowly. With evolving "rules." I want to believe he'll get there. I want to believe we'll all get wherever it is we really want to go. In the meantime, I appreciated getting to know him, his family, and his dual cultures, and I enjoyed being along for a very relatable ride.

It's amazing how well this thing was edited, and how well it came together. Even though the footage was rough, the film was fun to watch.

Greetings again from the darkness. These days the topic of racism is usually only addressed in the form of hatred and closed mindedness. This documentary/comedy looks at how racism within a culture is sometimes not only acceptable, but even encouraged as a tradition … and somehow it makes some sense.

You might recognize Ravi Patel. He is an actor from Transformers and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", and here his real life search for a wife is the focus – as is the cultural contrasts between his roots in India and his single life in the United States. Ravi co-directs with his sister Geeta Patel, though Ravi is predominantly on screen while Geeta spend her time operating the camera … while simultaneously jabbing and prodding her 29 year old brother with questions on his dating approach.

The movie picks up when Ravi has recently split with his long time girlfriend, Audrey Wauchope. Despite being very close with his parents, there is one reason Ravi never informed them of the relationship: Audrey is a white girl, not an Indian. Ravi's parents are the product of an arranged marriage, the long-standing cultural tradition that not only matches male and female Indians, but takes it a step further by only pairing up Patels with roots in the same small geographic area of India. It's a form of selective mating that dates back many generations.

Things get interesting and the laughs pick up as Ravi agrees to let his parents work the Indian dating network so that he can test out their traditions – in hopes of finding a match as well-suited as what theirs is. This process begins with "biodata"; a type of personal resume submitted by boys and girls – a precursor to the meet-up.

It really plays like a home movie, or a video journal, as Geeta films Ravi on dates and directly after, as he provides feedback on whether it was a good match. There is also a creative use of black & white animation to fill in the interview gaps where only Ravi's audio is available.

The family quest to find a mate for Ravi provides some interesting and entertaining insight into the culture, but the best parts of the film come courtesy of the parents. The mother and father are exceptionally intelligent and very loving and engaged in supporting the success of their kids. Whenever the film drags a bit, a scene with either parent picks us right back up. It's their commitment to the cause that highlights the cultural customs and challenges faced by immigrants as they struggle to get in step with American society while holding onto the tradition they so respect.