None of us want to believe we peaked as a child. Even if it’s starting to look like that, though, there’s always time to turn things around.
In “Definition Please,” a Greensburg-shot and set film premiering Friday on Netflix, Monica is a former Scripps National Spelling Bee champion whose life didn’t quite turn out the way one might expect of someone who showed so much promise at such a young age. Greensburg native Sujata Day stars as Monica in addition to serving as the film’s writer and director.
- Starring: Sujata Day, Anna Khaja, Ritesh Rajan, Parvesh Cheena, Lalaine, Sonal Shah.
- Rating: TV-MA for language.
- Streaming: Netflix
“Definition Please” was shot in summer 2019 and had become a festival-circuit darling before recently being picked up by Ava DuVernay’s Array label for distribution. A filmmaker can’t ask for much better support than someone with DuVernay’s industry clout putting her name behind it and getting it onto a platform as big as Netflix.
There’s a reason DuVernay clearly wanted to make sure Day’s feature directorial debut was put in front of as many cinema lovers as possible: “Definition Please” is a sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking family story that features fantastic performances across the board and the welcome opportunity to engage with a corner of American culture that isn’t often found at the movies.
Day’s Monica has been living in a state of arrested development for so long that when her dream job is offered to her, she’s afraid to leave Greensburg to pursue it. She’s clearly not completely content with her existence, yet she has resigned herself to taking care of her sick mother (Anna Khaja) while tutoring the next generation of prospective spelling-bee winners.
Things get complicated when Monica’s older brother Sonny (Ritesh Rajan) returns home to help out with their mother. Their relationship has always been fraught, and Monica’s efforts to make Sonny deal with his lingering problems force her to also confront what’s holding her back from moving on with her life.
Anyone familiar with Greensburg or its surrounding area will get a huge kick out of “Definition Please.” Day clearly has nothing but love for her hometown and shoots Greensburg with such tenderness that even viewers who have never been there may be compelled to check it out thanks to Day’s ability to imbue even the most mundane suburban settings with a sense of vibrancy and exuberance.
It’s a real treat to see how Day pulls back the curtain on how Indian American families interact both internally and with their communities. “Definition Please” is obviously just one person’s experience, but it’s an experience that doesn’t often make it into American pop culture. There are also some clear Bollywood homages and the general sensation that “Definition Place” takes place in a lived-in, thoughtfully presented world.
The tone of this is a little tough to parse sometimes, mostly because it seems to be doing a high-wire act between charming comedy and intense family drama that can sometimes lead to a feeling of whiplash from scene to scene. It mostly lands the correct sensation in every case, but audiences can be forgiven if they’re a bit taken aback by the abrupt shifts in mood.
Day proves to be a capable leading lady, as her Monica comes across as a fully functioning adult who just can’t get out of her own way. She’s intelligent yet stalled, and Day never lets you forget that this woman was once a national spelling-bee titleholder even as she bumbles through adulthood on her way to something resembling enlightenment.
She and Rajan have excellent brother-sister chemistry, and he makes Sonny a loose cannon capable of spreading laughter one minute and terrifying his mother and sister with unhinged behavior the next. The erratic nature of his performance is jarring, but that’s also the point. Khaja is a lot of fun as Jaya, who may be physically suffering but is more than strong enough to still provide her children with the reality check they so often need.
“Definition Please” also features some impressive supporting work from a group of recognizable character actors like Parvesh Cheena (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”) as Sonny and Monica’s uncle, Lalaine (“Lizzie McGuire”) as Monica’s bubbly bestie and Sonal Shah (“Scrubs”) as her mother’s scene-stealing doctor friend. There’s also a cameo from a famous face early in the film that is sure to elicit nostalgic smiles from many a viewer.
This is a self-assured, amusing, dramatically honest film and Day proves herself to be an adept triple threat to keep an eye on. And since it’s only about 90 minutes long and is going to be available via Netflix, there’s really no excuse not to check this one out — especially if you’re from Greensburg.
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.
First Published: January 20, 2022, 11:30 a.m.
Updated: January 20, 2022, 12:21 p.m.
