 Epic. Touching. Horrifying. Romantic. Uplifting. |
| Review Date: December 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Mark J. Fowler, Okinawa, Japan |
Slumdog Millionaire deserves a place among the masterpieces of world cinema. Praise is pouring in for this brilliant film, directed by Danny Boyle from a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy adapted from a novel by Vikas Swarup.
The settings move from the bleakest - the slums outside Mumbai, where our hero, Jamal Malik, lives as a child with his older brother Salim - to high rise vistas and no less than the Taj Mahal. The story ranges from the worst despair and heartbreak to the noblest sacrifice and most romantic love.
We are introduced in the opening moments to the young adult Jamal, played by Dev Patel. He is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and has just answered the ten million rupee question prior to the end of the show. His next question will be worth twenty million rupees, an unimaginable fortune to the average Indian. The arrogant, primping star of the show, played with artificial charm concealing an oily narcissism by Anil Kapoor, cannot stand that young Jamal is stealing some of his spotlight, and believes that the young, uneducated "slumdog" is cheating. (One of the key sequences involves the host "proving" to himself that Jamal MUST be cheating.) Jamal has been handed over to the police, who torture him to make him confess his deception. This moment in Jamal's life frames the rest of the film, told in flashback, and explains the torturous road that allowed Jamal to answer even the most difficult questions.
We are not told about Jamal and Salim's father, but in an early sequence we see their mother murdered in a brutal religion riot as club-wielding Hindu's attack a Muslim slum. Orphaned, Jamal and Salim live in the trash dump at the edge of the slum. They befriend another orphan, the young girl Latika.
The remainder of the film fills in the gaps of the lives of Jamal and Salim and Latika, who call themselves the Three Musketeers, but only got far enough in school before the murder of their mother to learn the names Athos and Porthos. Along the way they encounter police brutality, orphanage directors who make Fagin and Bill Sykes look like Mother Teresa, as well as Indian gangsters and other people-traffickers. Several sequences show us that Salim is becoming hardened by their harsh life, although he retains a degree of love for Jamal. For his part Jamal makes the most of what life gives him. He only resorts to the criminal activities Salim sees as the only way to make it out of necessity. At two different times Jamal is heart-breakingly separated from Latika, and at one level the entire film is a love story about Jamal's single-minded dedication to reunite with the only girl he ever loved. (Nine astonishing performances are given of the "Three Musketeers" at three different ages of life, and it is appropriate to give credit to Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubiana Ali as the youngest Jamal, Salim and Latika as well as Tanay Chheda, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala and Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar as the just-past-puberty versions. Dev Patel and the beautiful Freida Pinto may become international sensations as the adult star-crossed lovers. Madhur Mittal has less screen time as the adult Salim, but his character plays an important role.)
The faint-hearted should know that the language could appear on American television and that there is no nudity, but the violence, in particular two torture scenes, are flinch-inducing.
Slumdog is a piece of fiction - a fantasy - but it includes real emotions and believable human characters. I walked from the theater feeling a little better about being alive, and knowing that I had just viewed a stunning artistic achievement.
One of the inequities of the movie business is that a film like this can only open in a few theaters in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and take weeks to arrive at "lesser" destinations like Atlanta and Houston and St. Louis, while Beverly Hills Chihuahua opened nationwide on thousands of screens. I'm just sayin'.
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Love over gold
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| Review Date: July 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Glenn S. Brauer, Lexington, KY |
I saw this movie back in the Christmas season last year with some reluctance. Were it not for a good friend edging me on I probably would not have bothered. I incorrectly sensed that it was just another drippy foreign film about drippy people living on the edge and getting lucky.
Boy was I wrong.
This is such a smart, cleverly woven story with a classic twist--reminding me of Dickens--and all the stuff we love about life, but what's really striking--and I just watched this twice on DVD--is the precious love that is expressed here.
Lump in throat anyone?
Goosey bumps, too?
I just lap it up. Call me a sucker--but I had to re-play the last two minutes over and over again--where our hero brushes his sweetie's scarred cheek...and you either already know or will know the rest. It just kills me every time.The quintessential message is: LOVE OVER $$, GOLD, whatever, ANY DAY!
Amen. |
This breakthrough film is a true global masterpiece!
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| Review Date: November 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Linda Linguvic, New York City |
It's fresh and it's magical and horrific. It's the hero's story of a quest. And it's the story of the city of Mumbai, India, with its vast contrasts of utter poverty in an emerging modern world. It moves with lightning speed and I found myself smiling one minute and grimacing in disgust in another. It's an emotional roller coaster ride that left me exhilarated and convinced that this breakthrough film is a true global masterpiece.
The film opens as a young Indian man competes on a television quiz show. He is winning and winning. In the next scene he is being tortured by the police because they think he is cheating as he is not educated and is a child of the slums. His story is then told in flashbacks, as the audience learns how he came to know the answers to each of the questions.
We meet him and his brother as young children living on the street and exploited by gangsters to become street beggars. However, there is constant humor in juxtaposition to the wince-inducing revulsion which adds a special kind of humanity to the story. Through all the misfortunes to which the brothers are exposed, there is an upbeat quality to the film, as we come to understand that it was these traumatic incidents in this young man's life that taught him the specific answers to the question being asked on the quiz show.
Of course there is also a romance. Our hero is looking for the young woman he loves, a childhood companion through the horror, who is still being exploited by the Indian underworld, which now includes his brother.
All of this is packed in an upbeat and moving story that involved me from the beginning and made me want to stand up and cheer at the happy ending.
This is not a film to be missed. It breaks all the stereotypes and comes across as a groundbreaking fresh new voice in the landscape of the world of film. I give it my highest recommendation.
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Great movie, at times difficult to watch
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| Review Date: July 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Bradley Weidman, Denver, CO United States |
This movie will take your emotions for a roller coaster of a ride. The first hour of the film can be very difficult to watch as your heart goes out to the tragedy that Jamal and his companions go through. We had to turn the movie off at one point as it was becoming too difficult to watch.
I turned the movie back on the next day and was very glad I did. The film lightened and all the difficult scenes that we had previously watched came together. The final 30 minutes of the film were incredible, leading up to a fairy tale ending.
Few movies get to me as emotionally deeply as Slumdog. Although it was difficult to get through, I found myself shedding tears (of joy) for our two lovers at the end of this film after the incredible emotional journey that I had just accompanied them on. |
Glorious film
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| Review Date: May 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Paul Fedrick, |
| A truly beautiful film that takes you through the poverty of India, but that also gives you a glimpse of the life force that radiates in the colors and music of this emerging economic power. It is at it's heart a love story - and a beautiful one at that. Love conquers all. |
Who wants a Million Dollar Concept?
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| Review Date: November 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Randy Keehn, Williston, ND United States |
I, like the rest of the world, heard about the Film of the Year; "Slumdog Millionaire". However, I never overheard a clear explanation of the plot and what I did hear was more confusing than helpful; a dramatic story built around a gameshow. In addition, I read where 2009 was such a mediocre year that a movie like "Slumdog Millionaire" might end up as Best Picture come Oscar time.
"Slumdog Millionaire" IS a very good movie. As it began, I thought that I was finding out too much too soon. With all this information up front, how would the rest of the movie keep my attention. Before long I realized the brilliance of its' cinematic concept; the answer to each question on the game show was learned in the school of Hard Knocks by our improbable hero, Jamal Malik. Jamal has lived a tough life and every tragedy and misfortune was etched in his memory. His seemimgly emotionless reaction to each correct answer on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" was a testimony to the suffering the answer brought to mind. Naturally, the movie lets us in on the "stories behind the answers". Along the way, we meet other characters important in Jamal's life as they weave in and out of his story. The ending is somewhat predictable but we would be greatly disappointed otherwise.
I guess "Slumdog Millionaire" IS a dramatic story built around a game show. However, it didn't take a mediocre year to give it a chance to win Best Picture. It would have competed in any other year as well.
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Best movie that I've seen this year
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| Review Date: November 18, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Robert Moore, Chicago, IL USA |
Warning! Minor spoilers can be found in this review!
Although I've seen some really good movies this year, I can say with confidence that SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the one that I've enjoyed most. It has already generated perhaps the best critical reviews of any film released in 2008 and has won audience awards at notable film festivals. The film completely lives up to the hype that has surrounded it.
In the first couple of minutes of the film we learn several things. First, Jamal, a Muslim who is a product of the slums, is a participant on the Indian version of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Second, he is suspected of cheating and is subjected to horrific torture at the hands of the police. Gradually, after having failed to elicit confessions of how he had cheated, Jamal related, while they all watch a video of his television appearance, how he knew the answers of each of the questions. The result is a series of flashbacks that essentially tell the story of Jamal's life and his relations with the two most important relationships in his life, that of his street smart but sometimes amoral brother Salim, and Latika. These scenes are set in some of the most horrific squalor that one can imagine. It may seem unrealistic that someone could come out of such wretched life experiences as relatively unscarred as Jamal appears to be, but that is in part because at heart the film is a fairy tale. It is not an expose of the abuses of modern economic life. At heart it is a love story.
I am not a big fan of director Danny Boyle, not having enjoyed at all 28 DAYS or TRAINSPOTTING or his other efforts, but his work here is nothing short of miraculous. I knew none of the cast, though I've read that several members are well known Bollywood actors. This film, I have to hasten to add, has nothing in common with a Bollywood film apart from some of the actors. Though filmed in India, this is every bit a Western film. There are many marvelous performances, not least Dev Patel as Jamal. There are a number of child actors who turn in remarkable performances. And as the grown up Latika, the newcomer Freida Pinto is fascinating to look at with her almost surreal beauty.
As I said, despite the squalid settings for much of the film, this is a fairy tale, a love story. But even knowing that the film ends as a fairy tale does not prepare one for the particulars. There were a number of ways that it might have ended and while the ending wasn't completely unexpected, it wasn't entirely predictable. In the end, this was a thoroughly enjoyable film, equal parts love story and comedy, set against the backdrop of almost inconceivable squalor. There has been talk of this Indie film perhaps pulling a LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and receiving some Oscar attention. We can only hope. |
There is a reason it won the Oscar.
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| Review Date: July 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Rodriguez, |
| And that's because it's so good! I loved this movie, though I did find it a bit depressing. It's got a great backstory and the way the filmmakers tied in the stories was nothing short of brillant. It was moving, sometimes funny and sometimes sad, everything an Oscar winner is. I hope to read the book, Slumdog Millionaire: A Novel soon. |
Excellent movie. Good quality
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| Review Date: July 16, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Benjamin Walker, Washington, DC |
| SlumDog, an uplifting story about a poor boy's life and his quest to claim his destiny. The blu-Ray is excellent quality and well worth the money spent. I do not have the DVD to compare it to, but it has plenty of features and the digital copy download is also a nice bonus. The digital copy is compatible with both PCs and Macs. |
Slumdog Millionaire
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| Review Date: July 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: C. A. Luster, Burke, VA USA |
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this movie but it runs the gamut of emotions. A poor boy from the slums of India manages to get onto a trivia game show just like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" with Howie Mandel. As he gets closer and closer to the multi-million jackpot we see his life played out before us. He has endured many things since childhood, mostly torment including his mothers death. The one light of his life is a girl he met when he was young. Most of the movie reflects his trying to track her down after their separation. Good drama and good production. Good quality DVD with a few features. Decent replayability. If you enjoyed this catch Cave of the Yellow Dog.
CA Luster |
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