For you, a thousand times over.

Marc Forster's adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's tale of friendship and redemption,The Kite Runner is good, but not great. It isn't as overwhelming as the book, nor do you feel the way you would for the characters as you feel for them while reading the book.

Spanning two decades,the story begins in 1970's Kabul. Its about how Amir ( Zekeria Ebrahimi/Khalid Abdella), the protagonist, seeks redemption for something wrong he did. Something wrong he does to his best friend Hassan by being a coward.Of how the truth is not spoken of,and how time deepens the scar more and more.

If you've read the book, comparisons are just inevitable.With movies adapted from books, you always anticipate certain things, and when they don't live up to your expectations, you feel disappointed.Marc Forster tries his best to cram in as much as possible in a 2 hr movie, but it somehow lacks a certain depth. The conflict that Amir goes through lacks conviction. Amir(kahlid Abdella ) and Soraya's(Atossa Leoni ) relationship looks a little superficial and forced. And the last few minutes of the movie are just too hurried. But that doesn't mean the movie isn't worth watching.

The movie is shot beautifully( Roberto Schaefer).No one would believe that most of the parts supposed to be Afghanistan are actually shot in China.Very authentic. Even the dialogues, most of it being in Dari Persian. The whole kite-fighting tournament, is brilliantly choreographed. Choreographed...you'll understand when you see the movie. It has some really good background score by Alberto Iglesias.

The boy (Ahmad Khan Mahimdzada ),who plays Hassan, fits his part so well.He's everything of how you would imagine Hassan to be. Same with Homayoun Ershadi who plays baba. The other actors play their parts efficiently.

But if you've never read the book, you'll probably love the movie. A good effort, but just if the film had that 'something' in it.