2 stars (out of 4)

Midnight’s Children is based on a celebrated book (which I have not read) by Salman Rushdie, who also adapted the story for the screen.  The story is about a group of children, born at the stroke of midnight on the eve of India’s independence, who possess magical powers, and whose lives parallel that of the fledging nation.  Apparently, the book has famously been considered too difficult to adapt to the screen, and now I know why.

The movie suffers from a surfeit of story threads, so many that there is simply no time to fully develop or finish any one.  Ruthless editing at the screenplay level would have benefited this film  immensely.  For example, some characters (even entire generations) could have been eliminated or at least amalgamated with the same narrative effect.  Better movie editing would have helped too, as some gaps and disjointedness in the storyline could have been easily remedied if the filmmakers had tried.  It’s odd that some scenes are shot with such charm and attention to detail and yet some storylines are just left hanging.  I do wonder if budget or time constraints forced this movie to be released before it was really ready for an audience.

You could see the potential for a good movie (at least a 3 star movie) in there, but, as it is, it felt unfinished and unsatisfying.