Meet the Patels - B

Rated PG, 87 minutes

If you thought you had it rough as a growing-older single adult, try meeting thirty something Indian-American actor Ravi Patel (seen mostly on TV), who must balance cultures of dating and marriage. Patel co-directs and co-stars in the funny, engaging new documentary "Meet the Patels" along with his older sister Geeta, who is also single as well as the rest of his extended family. The film documents Ravi's experiences of finding the right mate, within the confines of a traditional Indian culture in which marriages are arranged, in spite of living in the U.S. Ravi enters a love triangle between the woman of his dreams...and his parents. Charming, heartfelt and often hilarious, the documentary "Meet the Patels" offers some insight into the Indian culture while also finding the right mate. Patel's humorous take on dating and Indian families and culture is especially fun, detailing how common the Indian name Patel is - it's equivalent to Smith in the U.S. - not to mention how common matchmaking is in Indian culture. Ironically, Ravi's mother is an expert at fixing others up, except for her own children, both of whom were single (at least during the making of the film). Ravi must put together and distribute his own "biodata," which is sort of like a matching resume, with his parents overseeing it. They are allowed to "date" American style then the marriage is ultimately decided upon by the couple's parents. As Ravi begins to date, there's some unexpected and awkwardly hilarious moments, and his well-meaning parents don't realize how intrusive they're being. Patel and his sister, who co-directed the film, use extensive comic-book style animation and illustrations to make their point, and while that is fun, it's often unnecessary, such as "interviewing" an animated version of Ravi rather than just speaking directly to him in human form. By the end of "Meet the Patels," it becomes a bit redundant - we get the point (and some of the "dates" seem a little manufactured) - but it ultimately speaks to the power of family bonds and love. As true in just about in any culture, there's the saying "when you marry a person, you marry their family too" and that's especially true in Indian culture.