In 1979, an Indian family moves to America with hopes of living the American Dream. While their 10-year-old boy Smith falls head-over-heels for the girl next door, his desire to become a 'good old boy' propels him further away from his family's ideals than ever before.
The film has accidental topicality now with the debate over immigration swirling, but you don't need to burden it with politics to be touched by its tale of a child who is pulled by two very different cultural worlds.
The film feels like an extended episode of The Wonder Years, if that '60s-set series had served a little chicken tikka masala and cross-cultural understanding with its white bread and pop hits.
The joys and pains of childhood are familiar across all cultures -- and, as the cloying comedy Growing Up Smith demonstrates, hackneyed variations on The Wonder Years also are universal.
Growing Up Smith possesses a big heart, features a funny and engagingly sincere performance by Lake Zurich's Roni Akurati, and offers an ending that swaps easy sentiment for the hard-earned kind.
A strained cross between broad, culture-clash comedy and wistful coming-of-age tale, "Growing Up Smith" is a well-intentioned fizzle that misses what should have been an easily reachable mark.
