A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I just learned more about the South Asian-American experience in 49 minutes than I have after hundreds of hours watching the Simpsons.Hari Kondabolu and Michael Melamedoff did a tremendous job creating this enthralling documentary. There is at least one white American who is going to be less ignorant now (me) and I will be recommending this to all my friends. The Problem with Apu is funny, quick-witted, personal, and filled with great special effects. The music and production values are very high as well.It's worth noting that Hank Azaria has done other questionably racist roles, including his supporting role in Along Came Polly (2004). I think Hari did a great job addressing the systemic issues as well as holding Hank accountable (like he should be).Only 1-star off because I think it could have been about 10 minutes shorter. It drags a tiny bit at the end and could have been storyboarded slightly better for pacing. Consciously or not, this film follows a similar framework to Michael Moore's docu-classic, "Roger and Me" (1989). Moore's pacing was a little better but still, this holds up with the best of em. Highly recommended.

Hari Kondabolu's documentary dives into the title character from the Simpsons. He attacks the stereotype of Apu, yet, he makes his argument more about emotions than about fact. The people he interviews is clearly biased in how he interviews mainly Indian-Americans and people who support his case. He attempts to get Hank Azaria, who plays Apu, to be interviewed for the documentary. When Azaria turns him down, he gets furious with Azaria. He talks about privilege, which is important to talk about, but he doesn't dive in with logic and his complaints are based too much on emotion and not enough on facts.It is always important to talk about racism and stereotyping. However, "The Problem with Apu" and Kondabolu don't realize that the Simpsons sees these stereotypes as satire. Not to make fun of these people, but to simply make a joke. Kondabolu takes it too personal when the Simpsons isn't intentionally being racist, but just trying to get laughs.

Has it been much more focused on media ignoring minorities, instead of bashing a cartoon character which, in the end, seems just like PR a thing quite a lot (at least to me), this movie would have much more impact and obviously, much less views. Blaming Azaria for trying to talk on his own matters is a bit out of line. But besides, it does bring a lot questions and views and,fortunately so, even some answers but for me, this was definitely not the way to focus on the problem, even though yes, in the better version of the document, Apu would have every right to be mentioned.

This documentary talks about how people from India are stereotyped in movies and TV shows specially in Apu from The Simpsons.This is also like when mexicans are stereotyped and wrongfully portrayed in Hollywood, wearing hats and always living in a poor village when in reality many own very expensive cars and a lot of them wear suits and tie. The only movie that portrays mexicans really close is ¨Traffic¨, ironically the great actor Benicio Del Toro, portraying a Mexican is not Mexican.One thing that this documentary fails in, is when it talks about ignorance of the American people but it shows to be ignorant itself when referring to America as if it is only the United States. This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the U.S. that America is a country, when in reality is a continent with more than 40 countries in it, including the United States and for many U.S. citizens this is a taboo they don't want to acknowledge which is in great part a selfish act, is a We are the only Americans in the world, there are no other American countries. I hope his changes one day starting in school and in the government.