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best movie i've ever seen.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

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.

I watched this documentary with no expectations, just an interest in learning about a cultural experience. The outcome of the documentary was apparent from the start. I expected the journey that lead us there, however, to be far more interesting. The documentary lacked basic fundamentals. The main intent of the film is obscure. As far as the character development goes- there is little. The parents are absolutely wonderful and the saving grace of this documentary. Mr.Patel is amazingly charming. I would love to have known more about Geeta. Her story is the one I found more compelling and it was only briefly touched. (Major spoiler coming) The relationship between Ravi and Audrey never seemed genuine. After being together two years he kept saying he didn't know if he loved her. At no point in the film was their affection for each other shown, but it was obvious through the script that they would end up together. The failed attempt at a "surprising twist" was awkward. I was left feeling sorry for Audrey.

In many ethnic groups in America, there is a strong expectation by families that their children will marry within their own ethnic group. However, in the case of "Meet the Patels", the push is MUCH more specific. According to this documentary, not only do these Indian and Indian- American families want their kids to marry an Indian...but they specifically want them to marry within their religion and caste! So, basically a Patel is expected to marry a Patel--and all have their original roots in the Gujarat region in India. So, with about a billion Indians, MOST of them are off limits because they aren't Patels. This necessitates either returning to India to look for a bride or finding another Patel living abroad.This story is specifically about one of these folks and his journey to find a wife now that he's nearing 30. The camera follows the guy to dating sites as well as dates across the United States. It all sounds really interesting, right? Well, unfortunately, it really isn't. While it's billed as documentary and a comedy, there isn't a lot in the way of laughs and, most importantly, I never really cared about any of the folks in the film. This isn't because I am not interested in Indians or Indian culture (I've watched several hundred Indian films---which is unusual for the average American). I just didn't find a compelling reason to care about this search. I did, however, like the little cartoon segments. There should have been more of them and they were cute.

It's a documentary, but at the same time the narrative does not act as one. Ravi is feeling the pressure of being a about to turn 30 year old Indian-American man, who as far as his parents are concern has never even been on a date, cause he hid his 2 year relationship with a white American girl from them. After Ravi breaks up with her he attempts to give Indian culture style dating a try to please the very large family that thinks he should be married with kids by now. It's a hysterical look at how cultures differ, but at the core stay the same, as Ravi deals with parents who feel that his happiness would be with the perfect Indian wife, his struggle with being both culturally Indian and American, and his annoying older sister, Geeta who thought it would be a good idea to document his turmoil.It is one of the best comedies I have seen. Through her brother, Geeta attempts to document how Indian dating culture is different from American culture, Yet what she accomplished was creating a narrative that's relatable down to the core. It'a a fun comedy, every minute was enjoyable, it was funny throughout.