When I heard the title of Slumdog Millionaire, I thought it sounded corny. I only added it to my Netflix DVD queue because I had won the Oscar for Best Picture. The DVD has sat on my desk since the end of January. I had no burning desire to watch it. Considering the Academy also awarded best picture that the drivel that is The Hurt Locker, I don’t trust their judgment all the time. While they had their collective heads up their fourth point of contact when they chose The Hurt Locker, they had it spot on with Slumdog Millionaire.
The movie is about an 18-year-old orphan in India who finds himself on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. When he makes it all the way to within one question of the top prize, time runs out and the show is continued until the next day. He is promptly arrested by the police for suspected fraud and tortured to try and get him to confess. While being questioned he explains to the detective how he knew the answers to the questions. He knew them from his life experiences.
The general premise sounds a bit contrived and stupid. However, the execution is superb. The story is not really about the game show. The questions of the game serve more as a narration for the flashbacks to his life growing up. Some of them are funny, some sweet, but the majority are tragic. Three actors/actresses portray each character: as children, young teenagers, and finally as young adults. This gives great character development of not only the lead character, Jamal, but also of his brother Salim and Jamal’s love interest Latika. The acting was superb in this film, yet amazingly, there were no nominations for any of the actors involved. Guys, take a look at Freida Pinto. This was her first performance, but with her amazing beauty, I’m sure she will be appearing in more films soon. Dev Patel has had a major film since Slumdog. Unfortunately it was as Prince Zuko in The Last Airbender, a film which did not live up to the promise he showed in this film.
One area where Slumdog did win awards was in its stunning cinematography. The cinematography of this film was spectacular. Nearly every frame could be a photograph. The movie is beautifully crafted and directed. It also had a cool original song, Jai Ho. If you watch America’s Got Talent then you have heard it by every Bollywood dance troop on the show (Pussycat Dolls bastardized a version of it, but that is not the one in the film). Slumdog was also nominated for a second original song as well; if you have to loose, might as well loose to yourself.
The movie is extremely entertaining, and fun to watch. I started the movie expecting crap, and instead found a gem of a movie. I give it 9 / 10.
The movie is about an 18-year-old orphan in India who finds himself on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. When he makes it all the way to within one question of the top prize, time runs out and the show is continued until the next day. He is promptly arrested by the police for suspected fraud and tortured to try and get him to confess. While being questioned he explains to the detective how he knew the answers to the questions. He knew them from his life experiences.
The general premise sounds a bit contrived and stupid. However, the execution is superb. The story is not really about the game show. The questions of the game serve more as a narration for the flashbacks to his life growing up. Some of them are funny, some sweet, but the majority are tragic. Three actors/actresses portray each character: as children, young teenagers, and finally as young adults. This gives great character development of not only the lead character, Jamal, but also of his brother Salim and Jamal’s love interest Latika. The acting was superb in this film, yet amazingly, there were no nominations for any of the actors involved. Guys, take a look at Freida Pinto. This was her first performance, but with her amazing beauty, I’m sure she will be appearing in more films soon. Dev Patel has had a major film since Slumdog. Unfortunately it was as Prince Zuko in The Last Airbender, a film which did not live up to the promise he showed in this film.
One area where Slumdog did win awards was in its stunning cinematography. The cinematography of this film was spectacular. Nearly every frame could be a photograph. The movie is beautifully crafted and directed. It also had a cool original song, Jai Ho. If you watch America’s Got Talent then you have heard it by every Bollywood dance troop on the show (Pussycat Dolls bastardized a version of it, but that is not the one in the film). Slumdog was also nominated for a second original song as well; if you have to loose, might as well loose to yourself.
The movie is extremely entertaining, and fun to watch. I started the movie expecting crap, and instead found a gem of a movie. I give it 9 / 10.
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