A fairly solid, mildly gripping drama dealing mainly in the unique perspectives of two Afghani children, The Kite Runner nonetheless feels overextended in it's third act and a tad unbelievable with some of the moral complexities which drive the film. Adapted from the novel by Khaled Hosseini, the movie did feel slightly less genuine then it should have in the hands of Marc Forster-an odd choice for directing, but not a surprising one, given the massive number of Middle Eastern-themed films targeted at American audiences being released over the next few years.
Despite some strong performances by most of the cast, including these two young children who guide the film's heart in the beginning and a dominating, charismatic turn by Homayoun Ershadi as one of the boy's fathers, the main character in The Kite Runner (relative newcomer Khalid Abdalla) simply does not exude the quiet strength needed to demonstrate his character's commitment, instead appearing rather puny and taking the overall thematic integrity from being emotionally involving to simply being interesting from afar.
Despite some strong performances by most of the cast, including these two young children who guide the film's heart in the beginning and a dominating, charismatic turn by Homayoun Ershadi as one of the boy's fathers, the main character in The Kite Runner (relative newcomer Khalid Abdalla) simply does not exude the quiet strength needed to demonstrate his character's commitment, instead appearing rather puny and taking the overall thematic integrity from being emotionally involving to simply being interesting from afar.