Dev Patel Stars in "Lion" Nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture (2017)

The movie "Lion"directed by Austrialian filmmaker/tv director Garth Davis is making a huge roar amongst audiences.  I'm at a loss as to what the uproar is about this long drawn out movie.  Rooney Mara is miscast as Saroo Brieley's (Dev Patel "Slum Dog Millionaire") love interest. Dev Patel received a Best Supporting Oscar nom. for his leading role as Saroo Brieley, a young Indian boy who gets separated from his mother/siblings and is raised by his adoptive parents in Australia.  Nicole Kidman (Sue Brierley) also received an Oscar nom. for her role as Saroo's adoptive mother.  Both Patel & Kidman give strong performances.  I fault other issues for this maudlin and meandering film based on a true story (with the real people pictured at the end of the film.)  Lucy, (Rooney Mara) is an insipid character who moons over Saroo and feels so sorry for the lost man he has become having developed  yearnings to find his birth mother & much beloved older brother.  Mara's acting comes from sporting a  dimple in her cheek and a doing a silly peek-a-boo behind a light pole.  Moving on - the movie's cinematography is stunning.  However, this at times does a disservice by minimzing the impoverished & brutal conditions.  The hordes of people in the train stations swirling around Saroo were very effective.  And, the scenes with a young Saroo & his older brother are touching.  Saroo's terror is tangible realizing he's entrapped on a train.   He ends up lost, vulnerable & placed in an abusive, horrifying orphanage.  Saroo is one of the fortunate ones chosen to be adopted & is welcomed into a loving home with affluence & limitless opportunities.  However, the adoptive parents aren't flushed out characters and the 2nd child they bring into their family suffers emotional trauma & illness.  His storyline should have been further examined.  Saroos search on the internet for his mother/hometown using vectors/graphs & maps drags on too long and becomes dull & disingenuous.  At the end of "Lion" there was a lot of cryin - I'd be lying if I told you I was amongst those deeply moved.  I'm puzzled as to the strong response gathered by this movie.