Slumdog Millionaire Review [2]

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 01.25.2009

It won the Golden Globes and is a favorite heading into the Oscars but does it live up to the hype?

Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan
Written by Simon Beaufoy based on the novel by Vikas Swarup

Cast
Dev Patel ... Jamal Malik
Freida Pinto ... Latika
Anil Kapoor ... Prem Kumar
Irrfan Khan ... Police Inspector
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar ... Youngest Jamal
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail ... Youngest Salim
Rubiana Ali ... Youngest Latika
Sanchita Choudhary ... Jamal’s Mother
Tanay Hemant Chheda ... Middle Jamal
Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala ... Middle Salim
Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar ... Middle Latika
Madhur Mittal ... Older Salim
Ankur Vikal ... Maman
Mahesh Manjrekar ... Javed



Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language
Running Time: 120 min


Danny Boyle has finally made his masterpiece and that film, Slumdog Millionaire, is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen.

Fate is the main idea playing out in the film. When the film opens, we are given a question, typical of one found on the popular game show:

Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it?

A. He cheated
B. He’s lucky
C. He’s a genius
D. It is written

Jamal is a young man from Mumbai, India and is the latest contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? By the time the movie begins, Jamal has answered every question correctly and only needs one more correct answer to win the contest. The show’s very seedy host finds it difficult to believe that an uneducated kid from the slums of India could answer all the questions that doctors and lawyers have trouble with. As a result, the host has Jamal arrested and charged with fraud following the show and, as the movie begins, we see Jamal being tortured by the local police, demanding he confess to cheating.

The movie plays out with flashbacks intercutting scenes of his police interrogation and scenes from his childhood, in which Boyle creates a story brilliant in the execution. Each of the flashback scenes follow a question from the game show as Jamal explains to the police inspector how he knew the answers to the questions. His story proves that a person does not have to be highly educated to know the answers but simply be in the right place at the right time. In some cases, it might be better described as the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jamal and his brother Salim came from the poorest slums of India and, following a massacre in their home town, find themselves scavengers, living on the streets fending for themselves. It is here that Jamal meets a girl named Latika, who he immediately connects to. Jamal considers the three of them to be a modern day Three Musketeers, inseparable and together till the end. In these scenes, the characters are played by a trio of very talented youngsters who prove up to the challenge that lies before them. They are taken into the care of an orphanage that is actually a front for a gangster named Maman, who makes all the children work the streets begging for money daily. It is at this point the youngsters start down different roads, led by their individual fates.

When you see everything Jamal went through in his young life, you find yourself behind him every step of the way. He is not perfect and he is, in fact, single mindedly stubborn and infatuated to a fault. However, he is a good, honest person and is painted with a deft touch making him sympathetic throughout his misadventures. His older brother Salim is the antithesis of Jamal, a go-getter willing to do whatever is necessary to get ahead in life. Along the way, Salim takes every opportunity to hold Jamal down, cheating and stealing from his brother and doing everything he can to stand in the way of Jamal’s attempts to reconnect with Latika. However, when the chips are down, he is still the protective older brother, willing to do whatever is needed to protect his sibling. No one in this film is painted in a coat of black and white and the most interesting characters are displayed in varying shades of gray.

I find it amazing that the man who directed 28 Days Later made this film. I love that film and Boyle shows nice touches with his shot selection and editing in the horror flick but this film is on a completely different level. There are touches of the familiar Boyle filmmaking style, such as the urgency when the boys are pursued down the street by the local police and the grainy, documentary style he utilizes in many of the flashbacks. However, this movie possesses a heart that is displayed through its direction, adding to the already ingenious script design using transitions through time.

Boyle has always been a director willing to take chances when choosing his shots. This is evident in his earlier works, such as Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, as well as his more recent hit Sunshine. Slumdog Millionaire takes everything he did in those earlier films and, to steal a concept from another movie, cranks it up to eleven. When the movie reaches its climax, you learn why Jamal, a man who doesn’t care about the money, would enter into the show to begin with. Boyle directs the scene at the climax, where Jamal is asked the final question, with so much tension and suspense the audience remains on the edge of their seats. Because it doesn’t matter if Jamal wins or not, the audience has no idea what is going to happen and Boyle milks that uncertainty ending the movie on the highest of notes.

The acting, from top to bottom is spectacular. There are three different people playing Jamal, Salim and Latika throughout the movie and all are great. All three young actors who play Jamal are at the top of their game, which is astonishing since the oldest (Dev Patel) is only eighteen. Freida Pinto, who plays the elder version of Latika is radiant and a beauty to behold. There is a sadness in her eyes that makes Latika such a wonderful character. Perennial Bollywood star Anil Kapoor (110 films at the age of 49) gives the game show host just the right amount of slimy seediness. Finally, Irrfan Khan plays the police inspector as someone you realize you can trust, not the stereotypical police thug he could have been passed off as. It is another case where the characters that are most interesting, from the police inspector to the kids all the way to the game show host, are not good or bad guys. They are all individuals tinted in shades of gray.

The movie ends with a giant Bollywood styled dance number that allows the audience to leave the theater with a smile on their faces. By this time, Slumdog Millionaire has accomplished something rare in Hollywood today. It takes a culture in India and shows us the lowest of lows in the slums of Mumbai to the highest of highs at the Taj Mahal but never loses focus. The film scans the gamut of almost eleven years, but never seems to be taking in too much. Much of the plot rests in the hands of children, but all are up to the challenge and none disappoint. The film tethers near the melodramatic but never steps over the line. The script is a story of a young man’s life and the film breaks its pace at points as it jumps through time, but it never bores and rarely seems to drag on.

I have to expect this was not an easy movie to make and was a hard effort to carry out. At the end, Danny Boyle pulls it off and created the greatest movie in his already solid career. Slumdog Millionaire is one of the best films you will see from 2008, and with the awards recognition it is beginning to get a wider release. You would do yourself a favor by setting out to find this film. Only the hardest of hearts will leave disappointed.

The 411: Slumdog Millionaire is not a simple film, but an elaborate production directed with such a deft touch surrounded by performers who leave their heart and souls in the story. The cinematography and music add to the flavor and this is a movie that should attract all movie lovers, regardless of age or gender. It is not only one of the best films of 2008 but one of the best films of recent memory. This is a story that starts similar to Oliver Twist and then becomes a thriller and a romance all in one tight package. If Danny Boyle never directed another movie again, he could retire now knowing Slumdog Millionaire is a true masterpiece.

Final Score:  10.0   [ Virtually Perfect ]