a nice film. in a surprising manner. because it has the subtle and wise science to be more than part of a specific genre. because it propose a seductive, colorful and charming - in its dramatic significance - story.because the cultural clash has adorable nuances. because it is a story about love and traditions and influences and the good son in middle of huge crisis. and because one of the seductive characters is ... the spirit of Cary Grant made by a surprising actor. so, a good choice for the viewer looking for a seductive film. and the real gift remains the end. so, see it !

I guess I am not the brightest bulb once in a while because I didn't figure out what Cary Grant was doing in this movie until about 15 or so minutes into the movie. This review will contain some mild spoilers.I did see this movie when it came out and there are so many basic reviews already I will just mention what I found to be good and bad. Yes this is another cross cultural coming out story but it is done in a very unique way. Some have complained there wasn't chemistry between the male leads (Alim- Muslim and Giles British) or Alim's mother Nuru was too abrasive. Or that the Alim character was too droopy/ sad. I take a different tack and realize the actors didn't write the script and judge how well they did with what they were handed. I say the acting was excellent. That said it would have been nice to see a little more romance/normal life between the leads before turning everything topsy turvy with all the inter familial drama. This movie moves fast and even after watching it three times I still catch very subtle nuances. I agree with others who say Alim's mother's transformation was pretty smooth but then few of us go through what she did - living all over the world and widowed at 19. The most ridiculous criticism here is that she looked to young to be a mother of a 30 year old man. Movies are make believe aren't they? Whoops Goldberg rightly protested when they told her the princess wasn't black so she couldn't play the part! Nuru the mother had very traditional clothes and very old fashioned hair dos. It was good enough. I can see why they wanted her - she is stunningly beautiful.I didn't understand a couple things. Giles professed his love for Alim and vice versa yet the reactions to various situations (about their romantic relationship) seemed very understated and others very over dramatic. It was unclear how long they had been together. This may explain some of the reconciling. The credits said there was a cultural consultant but Giles was way too smart to say to Alim during a fight "if you're mother is just an ignorant Pakistani what does that make you?" At the cousin's wedding also Muslim the sister thinks her husband is drunk and then says very distraughtly "I knew we should have had a cash bar". ??? At the very end Nuru Alim and Giles leave the wedding for reasons I won't expose here. It didn't change anything but definitely contradicts Nuru's earlier statement that (paraphrased and in more ways than one) "family is everything especially when no one else will have you"Despite everything each time I see this I like it more. I read the producer spent 11 years putting this together, writing many of the songs and so much more. It is not perfect. But neither is it a campy stereotyped movie full of nudity or the tragedy of AIDS or things like that. Just enjoy the story and have fun.

As a story this one tries hard. That's the best I'll say for it. I never found a way to really like the characters. Each of them is self involved and absorbed to a degree that makes them stereotypical and ugly. While the main character has an all too common and real dilemma, and his mother's obtuse denial is nothing out of the ordinary, they simply aren't handled in a way that makes the viewer sympathetic towards them. I quite disliked them both at certain points while hoping that I would find them warm and fuzzy.The saddest thing is the boyfriend and how he's treated. He is perhaps the nicest on the bunch but the plot and development leave him starched and angry more than genuinely loving and kind.This film was also a coming out film, and though that's often painful and dramatic this one wasn't. It wasn't often funny or dramatic and though it wasn't the oft repeated teen-aged angst fest that many coming out movies are, it wasn't much different except for giving the main character an ethnic spin.The film did try to get there, but emotionally left me flat. As is sometimes the case, gay themed means poorly done. I hate that, but the market is somewhat starved and often simply having a gay theme gets a movie made that shouldn't or wouldn't get made on it's own merits. I think there should be tons more gay themed movies, but I think they need to be good movies that are gay themed not simply expect to be good because they're gay themed. In the same way that simply seeing Disney on a label doesn't guarantee a truly fine film, seeing the word gay doesn't mean a movie is relevant or meaningful to gay people.Though it had good intentions I don't think this was a relevant or meaningful movie to gay/lesbian audiences. It might be more to the point to say it could entertain those not in the community in the same way shows like Will and Grace do. By being over the top parodies of real life, they entertain but never enlighten and never really touch the people they are supposed to be about.

Within the glut of "coming out comedies" I've purchased in the past few years, I've noticed that they all seem to have similar plot devices. They usually present a young gay couple, consisting of one partner who is out and comfortable with his family, job and friends and a partner who is not out to any of these people. Almost always, the happy couple is suddenly confronted by the visit of a parent or other relative (usually from another country or culture) from whom they must conceal the truth of their relationship, or come out once and for all. Many of these films mean well, but frequently (especially when other cultures are involved) the movie is trite, offensive or dated. I was prepared for Touch of Pink to be all of these things, and half-wondered to myself as I purchased it why I bothered. I was in for a pleasant surprise. The characters were real, engaging and likable. The two actors who played the couple were not drop-dead gorgeous hunks, just pleasant looking enough to have the average gay viewer identify with them. The gimmick of having Cary Grant as the imaginary friend of the main character worked better than I expected it to. All too often imitations of celebrities come off as just that – imitations, and pale ones to boot. Kyle MacLachlan has Cary Grant's vocal mannerisms down pat, without being overly exaggerated or silly. Alim's mother is pretty, bitchy and quite a lot of fun, and her character has most of the really funny lines in the picture, which are many. And I was also impressed not only by the production values and acting, which were first rate, but by the first class treatment given to the DVD release. All too often, DVD's of films with gay subject matter come at very high prices with no extras whatsoever. This disc offered subtitles in several languages (including English for the hearing impaired) a trailer and a short documentary on the making of the film. These are extras that people who purchase mainstream films take for granted, and I am always delighted when they're included in a gay title. All in all this film was quite enjoyable.