To Be Takei

There is a useful directness to To Be Takei, a documentary shaped by Jennifer M. Kroot with a firm understanding of its audience. In To Be Takei, George Takei provides the anchor while Brad Takei introduces a contrasting energy. Without revealing later complications, To Be Takei opens from this situation: A look at the many roles played by eclectic actor/activist George Takei, whose wit, humor and grace have helped him to become an internationally beloved figure and Internet phenomenon with 7 million Facebook fans and counting. The resulting its 1h 34m running time feels most convincing whenever To Be Takei trusts behaviour more than explanation.

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The craft of To Be Takei is defined by patient observation, supported by patient observation rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Dodgeville Films gives To Be Takei a production framework in which carefully chosen testimony can remain connected to story. Made from a United States production context, To Be Takei uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of To Be Takei works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.

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George Takei gives To Be Takei its most dependable performance, finding a clear emotional intention beneath the plot. Opposite George Takei, Brad Takei brings To Be Takei a contrasting pace that prevents the central relationship from feeling flat. Walter Koenig widens the ensemble of To Be Takei through reactions that suggest a life beyond the immediate scene. Jennifer M. Kroot serves the cast of To Be Takei best when a look or pause is allowed to finish before the story moves on.

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The central idea running through To Be Takei concerns the tension between public stories and private experience. George Takei gives that idea a human scale, allowing To Be Takei to remain accessible even when its world becomes larger. By returning to Facebook, To Be Takei turns theme into a source of pressure rather than a message waiting to be delivered. The handling by Jennifer M. Kroot lets To Be Takei leave a little interpretive room, which gives its better scenes an afterlife.

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At story level, To Be Takei turns George Takei and Internet into the source of its main tension. The role played by George Takei becomes the viewer's route through To Be Takei, especially when Facebook begins to alter the situation. George Takei gives To Be Takei momentum by allowing choices to create consequences instead of treating each scene as isolated information. Even when the central character pushes the plot toward familiar ground, To Be Takei remains attentive to what that pressure means for its characters.

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Jennifer M. Kroot shapes To Be Takei with an approach that feels careful about tone and generally effective. The best directed passages in To Be Takei establish an objective, let the characters respond and then allow the pressure to change naturally. The film delivers more often than it misses in To Be Takei, particularly when Jennifer M. Kroot resists the urge to underline an already clear emotion. My main reservation about To Be Takei is that the middle loses a little urgency, a limitation that interrupts rather than defines the experience.

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To Be Takei ends as a likeable film whose strengths survive its limitations, especially for viewers who enjoy thoughtful factual storytelling. What remains from To Be Takei is the relationship between George Takei, patient observation and Jennifer M. Kroot's control of mood. The weakness that the middle loses a little urgency narrows the impact of To Be Takei without cancelling its better work. On balance, To Be Takei gives its intended viewers a distinctive experience rather than a completely anonymous piece of content.