Four Samosas

A precious comedy about a ill-considered grocery store heist that just isn't nearly as cute and engaging as it thinks it is.

“Four Samosas” is like a meal at a little out-of-the-way restaurant your friends have raved about it. You’re intrinsically disposed to like it, but the dinner just doesn’t impress. The food is bland and the service leisurely. You walk out and nod congenially to the host, thinking maybe you’ll swing by again for another try, knowing you probably won’t.

Written and directed by Ravi Kapoor, who also plays a small part, it’s set in the Los Angeles exurb of Artesia, aka “Little India,” where immigrant families dominate the culture. The premise is that a local small-time loser, aspiring rapper Vinny (Venk Potula), wants to rob the grocery store of the local big-shot entrepreneur, who also happens to be the father of the girlfriend who dumped him.

It plays out as a standard comedy-heist, with the three acts of setting up the motive for the crime, the planning stage, and then the execution where everything falls apart and they deal with the consequences of that. The only real divergence is that everyone is Indian-American.

The immigrant flavor may be pleasing, but it’s ladled over warmed-over pastries you’ve eaten many times before without enthusiasm.

Vinny, who works a dead-end job in a cloth store, is shocked to learn that Rina (Summer Bishil), his ex, is getting married. Sure, it’s been three years since she dumped him, and that was mostly owing to his inferiority complex from dating a rich girl.

But in Vinny’s mind, he’s the wronged party. Especially when his replacement is a churlish dolt (Karan Soni) who made a killing back in the home country selling goat dung. He redirects his resentment onto Rina’s father (Tony Mirrcandani), the haughty owner of Juneja’s Grocery and the source of much neighborhood envy.

Of course, any good heist picture must have an extended “putting the team together” sequence, and “Four Samosas” is no exception.

His first recruit is Anjali (Sharmita Bhattacharya), a smart, impossibly upbeat girl who is the publisher/editor/reporter/sole employee of the local shopper newspaper. She’s preparing for the big Indian Cultural Show coming up, but is intrigued by Vinny’s sharing of the rumor that Mr. Juneja has a cache of “dirty diamonds” stowed in his grocery safe.

Vinny plans to use the money to launch his rapping career, assist the people in Little India and also help out with the medical payments of a distant auntie back in the home country, though he’s a little clear about which one it is. Anjali wants to strike a blow for truth and justice.

Zak (Nirvan Patnaik), Vinny’s best and possibly only friend, is tall and handsome and vaguely dim, who secretly dreams of becoming a Bollywood star. He gets roped in and soon starts casting moony glances at Anjali, which are copiously returned.

The last recruit is the safecracker, which turns out to be Paru (Sonal Shah), a headstrong girl who needs the money to help with her immigration problems. She is extremely focused and demanding, especially for lots of sweet and salty snacks to bolster her energy while she is picking locks. We quickly get the impression her skills are more aspirational than operational.

In perhaps the movie’s only truly funny bit, the four thieves dress up as oldsters who will get “accidentally” locked in the grocery overnight. All except Vinny dress as the opposite gender, and Paru is quite convincing as a fat merchant type, while Zak makes for a fetching young princess.

There is a surplus of energy and attitude in “Four Samosas.” Kapoor uses lots of slow-motion for different scenes, always accompanied by bouncy Indian music, while Vinny and his crew strut their stuff. It’s over-used so much that there’s actually little self-poking near they end where somebody runs by the barely-moving quartet at normal speed.

Of course, if you can’t guess that things are going to wind up at the cultural show tryouts, where the reticent Vinny finally gets to spit his licks and show everybody — especially Rina — his true heart, then you haven’t been paying attention.

I like the idea of this movie more than the one they actually made. Like that overrated restaurant, the movie has a swollen head misperception of its own worth. It think it’s outrageous and original and audacious. Mostly it’s warmed-over leftovers sprinkled with exotic spices.