Slumdog Millionaire (2008) Dev Patel, Freida Pinto Directed by Danny Boyle
Is Slumdog Millionaire ? (a)Best picture worthy (b) The best romance I have seen in a long time (c) Something new and different that grew on me minute by minute (d) all of the above. In most years as a movie buff I watch literally hundreds of movies, and out of those hundreds, a clear few standout as my favorites. This year (2008) as a whole struck me as a down year in movies. A few standouts like Be Kind Rewind, Indy 4, Sarah Marshall, Changeling, and Nick and Norah, caught my attention but if you had asked me about the Best Picture of the year...for maybe the first time since I could watch movies, I couldn't answer. The Best I could do was Burn After Reading...a tremendous movie, and up until a few hours ago my favorite picture of 2008. When I watched the Golden Globes this year as I always do (although now I can thank god for DVR's that let you fast forward) the rage was a little up and coming movie called Slumdog Millionaire. Honestly at that moment of hearing about it, I thought to myself time for a doubleheader (where I pay for one and sneak into one) movie day so I can get up to speed on this thing...but I didn't go. In fact for the first time since I can remember I had not seen any of the Best Picture nominees at the time of the Academy Awards. I never got caught up...time passes and during the Academy Awards I had that moment of sadness where I started to dislike the movie before I ever saw...expectations were now so high due to its growing popularity and multiple awards that I thought I would surely hate it or at least be disappointed.
Well let me report that I was not at all disappointed in this film, it is truly a master work filled with great acting and clever storytelling.
Slumdog Millionaire is the story of two brothers who come from the slums of India, Jamal played most memorably by Dev Patel, and Salim played most memorably by Madhur Mittal. It is a telling of their difficult lives, as they struggle to survive in this difficult environment, that many of us have never seen or heard of. They are accompanied by the beautiful Latika played most memorably by Freida Pinto. Their lives are told with the backdrop of Jamal's historic run on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". Every answer to a question is piece of their lives, and as we watch Jamal outwit the game, and the host (played well by Prem Kumar) we get sucked into his world. It isn't often that a movie that is so different, with so few known (at least to us Americans) actors, sucks me in like this one did. I found myself rooting for one brother, hating the other, rooting for the host, then Jamal, it was like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and speed to entertain you, you were entertained by life decisions (often more scary, and thrilling). This movie is well paced, ( warning give it 30 more minutes if it strikes you as not your thing and you won't regret it) well written, and well deserving of the attention it recieved. So go out if you haven't already and get this movie!
(The Shawshank Scale 1-10) This film a clear 8.0 rating...one of the best films in sometime!
Final Answer all of the above...A very worthy Best Picture...a clear winner
This was a really really good movie, I loved it!
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