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The Kite Runner

Starring: Khalid Abdalla

Rating: 3

The Kite runner is about Amir, who after spending years in California, returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

I was very excited to see "The Kite Runner". I debated before watching it though. I didn't know if I should read the book first or watch the movie first. I generally have mixed feelings when it comes to the book first / movie first debate. But, with "The Kite Runner" I decided to go ahead and watch the movie first. I wish I hadn't.

I should have read the book by Khaled Hosseini first. I think that had I read it first, it would have cleared up a lot of things for me. And, I think that the book was probably a bit difficult to turn into a movie. If you've read the book first, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Aside from that, I didn't think that the makers of the movie did that great of a job necessarily. It could have been better. I wasn't bought in to the characters, and I was so disturbed by a couple of graphic scenes that I had trouble sleeping through the night.

One thing that "The Kite Runner" did do extremely well was to put life in perspective. It really portrayed what it's like in Afghanistan. So, if for no other reason, you should watch it to gain a little perspective on life. "The Kite Runner" though is not for the faint of heart.