Slumdog Millionaire

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Here's yet another extremely overrated film from 2008 catered specifically to awards and little else. Color me unimpressed. While it's not as dire as Benjamin Button or as erroneous as The Dark Knight, Slumdog is certainly not a good film. It's not technically bad, either. It simply exists. It's a movie you watch rather than experience. I am literally in a state of shock these days at all the films masquerading as high-class or even art when they are riddled with so many *fundamental* mistakes. Screen writing 101...they get that stuff wrong! Not the hard stuff, the simple stuff. How? I am baffled. Slumdog's story relies damn near entirely on coincidence, which is a hugely detrimental factor when attempting to create audience sympathy. I didn't feel for the kid on the show. I wasn't given a reason to. If that were me on that show, I would have never been asked questions that I just so happened to know the answers to by chance. This kid just so happens to know the answer to the questions he is asked and little else. He lucked out! I did not sympathize with him, I envied him! I simply could not put myself in that situation due to it's complete insanity and lack of realism. The search for the girl is introduced rather late, and before then, there isn't much to root for in this story. So essentially, you can begin watching this film at that point and completely understand the plot and miss nothing of importance. The fact that the kid had one question left was not properly communicated to the audience, which diluted the suspense of the situation. The fragmented nature of the story doesn't make it easy to understand the narrative, even when the concept alone creates the plot beats for you. This film seems to go out of it's way to make things extra-complex, as though it's trying to cover up something that's lacking... Another thing that jumped out and bothered me...there are plenty of scenes that simply have nothing to do with the kid on the game show...or scenes that take far too long to get to the necessary bits of info that we need. It plods around for quite some time as if it's trying to make up for something that's lacking... I also do not enjoy the new-age, pointlessly over-stylistic directing style employed here. It was distracting, perhaps to cover up something that's lacking... When something, *anything*, is not right, you look at the fundamentals. This is true in everything from football to film-making. Without knowing, or by simply ignoring the fundamentals, you end up with horrendously flawed films such as this, The Dark Knight and Benjamin Button. And what's really sad is that these are the most highly-praised films of last year. When did the standards drop so low? Did I miss a meeting? And can I still vote?

to those non-Indians and the conformist Indians here's a little bit of perspective... when i write what i have to say some of you may think that I've been hurt by the negative depiction of Mumbai... well, not at all, actually i was hoping for a more gritty, realistic, up-close depiction rather than a 'long-shot' impersonal superficial one... slum-dog millionaire is not a great film, slum-dog millionaire is not a good film. it's an OK film. first the good things... cinematography is edgy and mind-blowing... editing is razor sharp... sound design is amazing... but, it is very hard to digest slum kids talking in English, harder still to digest is their (kind of) fake UK accent. also the cops speaking in English, the local mafia speaking in English... the acting (in Hindi) of Salim and Jamaal though over-the-top, is passable. but once they grow up and start speaking in English, it's pathetic. the story which is basically a love story between Jamaal and Latika is lost in the gimmicky impersonal screenplay and you don't connect... actually you don't connect with any character and not because the characters are dark but because neither the lines nor the acting are good. and Danny Boyle knows this and that's why the long-shots and the silhouettes and the characters-in-dark treatment to the film. Dev Patel has only one expression on his face when he is on the 'chair'. Anil Kapoor is irritatingly snobbish, Mahesh Manjrekar is irritating, Freida pinto is irritating... Irrfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla are passable... Rehman's music is a mix of few average tunes from the great A. R. Rehman library. he's given great music, absolutely great music in infinite Hindi, Tamil films... so if he gets the Oscar, it'll be for his great compositions over the years and not for the average 'slum-dog..' album. ditto for the lyrics of Gulzar... the main problem in the film is the lack of emotional attachment one feels with the film... i mean when Salim suddenly changes his heart or when he dies in the bath-tub filled with currency, we don't feel anything... when Jamaal finally gets Latika, we don't feel anything... when Salim kills Maman, we don't feel anything... when the film ends we don't feel anything (except irritation)... the film is an amazingly shot and stylishly edited set of gimmicks which have been forcibly interwoven in to a very convenient story... but when the world says that it's brilliant cinema, who am i to say anything... and if the world enjoys the irritating yet laughable ( a bad wannabe Bollywood) song and dance sequence in the end, who am i to say anything...

Since it received no less than 8 Oscars, I foresaw that Slumdog would not be of my liking, but I was frankly still baffled that the picture did not even meet my poorest of expectations, turning out to be just another overcheesed melodrama and an altogether quixotic mess of a film. With leads totally bereft of any charisma and zero chemistry between them, I progressively wondered who exactly I was supposed to root for. I think at some point I went for the game show host, since he was apparently paying the game money out his own pocket? and was obviously the victim of a swindle, much like myself. Come on, people don't instantly become of interest or garner sympathy just because they had a rough time. It takes a believable backdrop, a solid script and character development to achieve this. This picture fails terribly on all these counts and does so rather conspicuously, much like a cartoon or a parody. Oh, this was a realistic portrait of a typical slum in Bombay? They must have recently painted and vacuumed the place then. Heavy handed and utterly contrived situations furthered my annoyance as the movie turned into an inconceivable question and answer game where queue back sequences, in perfect chronological alignment, conveniently allowed the main lead to be able to rush through the game show, never showing the proper emotion or physical reaction such a tense situation surely would bring. No wonder the comic book villain cops didn't buy the lead's explanation that he simply knew all the answers. Our poor lead is beaten and tortured as the morally bankrupt cops try to force out a confession. But after a few weepy lifetime tales, the cop miraculously turns from foe to friend acting like the father one never had. Please give us a break. And what was up with these kids being able to speak perfect English all of a sudden? Since when is the WWTBAM show broad-casted live? Since when do you only need to answer 6 questions in this quiz and what in God's name is so glorious or symbolic about being shot to death in a bathtub full of money? Why is it that nowadays films with a story line that would really only be suitable for young children with its simplistic and utterly unrealistic plot points, seem so fit to gather so much general acclaim from a mature audience? I know people are easy to manipulate with these sorts of rags to riches claptrap, but surely this level of schmaltz and insultingly lame and predictable story progression would open up a few eyes here and there? I guess that the better the movies come, the worse they actually are.

This is an extraordinary film. From the original concept of the novel on which it is based (Q&A by Vikas Swarup), the screenplay by Simon Beaufoy (Full Monty) but especially the masterful creation and direction of the film by Danny Boyle. From the opening moments until the final scene, the audience was fully engaged. I was completely lost in the world that Danny Boyle created. This is not a story that has been told and retold, hashed and rehashed. It is fresh and engaging - all at once quickly moving, romantic, violent, culturally insightful, desperate and slightly fantastic. There are some comic elements to the film but to describe it as a "comedy" seems inappropriate. The film was shot on location in India, mostly in Mumbai. Slumdog Millionaire is yet another testament to depth and range of Boyle's artistic talent who has directed such diverse films as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine. I saw the film on at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival as a "sneak preview." The film was introduced by Boyle who said that the official opening of the film would be the next weekend at the Toronto Film Festival. He also said that there may be some final tweaking of the film prior to Toronto. In the discussion after the film Boyle strongly recommended three Indian made films: Satya, Company and Black Friday. He described each as superb. Boyle also stated that a portion of the Slumdog Millionaire was shot with a Canon EOS still camera, especially around the Taj Mahal, rather than a proper movie camera which creates unwanted attention while filming at popular tourist locations in India. 8.2

Danny Boyle has been a favorite of mine since I saw Shallow Grave, since then he's gone on to make three masterpieces(Trainspotting,28 Days Later and Millions), a near perfect film(Sunshine) a guilty pleasure(The Beach) and a total miss(A Life Less Ordinary). Slumdog Millionaire comes out of nowhere and it could very well be his best film and one of the best films of the decade. Visually like Boyles previous work it's stunning, Apocalypse Now and City of God come to mind and there are dutch angles galore. The raw style mixed with the amazing locations make this film one of the most cinematic experiences you'll ever see. The Sound is perfect, I haven't heard audio like this in a while. This film needs a Sound Oscar nomination, it sounds that good. I went into seeing this knowing very little about it and the person I took with me didn't know anything about it, so I'll just say it's about a young man that goes on Indias Who Wants to be a Millionaire, it's a very unconventional film where they tell the story of his life in flashbacks while he plays the game. It's funny, sad, thrilling, basically a very enjoyable film that deserves numerous Oscar nominations. Also the lead actress is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, if she isn't a huge star after this I'd be extremely surprised. If the academy doesn't honor this film with numerous nominations it will be a shame but this film will be studied in 20 years and whoever sees this will love it, so even if it doesn't get a single nomination it won't matter. Don't miss this film, it's perfect!

This movie was one of the best movies that I have seen so far at the Toronto International Film Festival. This film is beautifully filmed as Danny Boyle can do. He is a film master. The acting is magnificent as well. Imagine using 3 children under the age of 7 to tell the early part of the story plot. The film uses past tense, and present tense to tell the whole story, which is also seamless. Filming took place in India as well. Their was a question and answer after the showing of this film at TIFF-Toronto International Film Festival. Please go and see this film. This film is has and exceptional cast, and should be seen in the theaters. It was magnificent.

It doesn't seem like a stretch to suggest that America might now be ready to embrace films in the style of India's Bollywood films. While "Slumdog Millionaire" is far from a Bollywood tragic love story filled with singing and dancing, the way director Danny Boyle will rivet audiences with his film that is authentic to Indian culture while using a distinctly Western style of film-making might be enough proof that there is a profit to be made here. "Slumdog Millionaire" is a drama exposing the tragic effects of poverty in gigantic Indian cities like Mumbai that is also fused with a modern day Indian fairytale. Jamal Malik is a young man on India's "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" and is a question away from one million dollars when he's arrested on suspicion of cheating. Because Jamal is from the slums of India and has no educational background, it seems entirely improbable if not impossible that Jamal could make it this far, but each question is connected with distinct and sometimes painful memories for Jamal. It's as if he is destined to win, even though he only went on the show to impress a girl he has loved his whole life, Latika. Danny Boyle ("28 Days Later," "Sunshine") takes us from memory to memory as Jamal advances question by question toward the million dollars. These memories offer vivid insight into poverty in India as well as the lives of Jamal, Latika and Jamal's older brother Salim. As children they are left parentless and taught how to swindle tourists, leading to lives of little fulfillment or even corruption. Despite being separated, Jamal and Latika are reunited several times and in fact Jamal's only motivation in life is his love for her. While the young, unknown, Indian actors are absolutely amazing in this film, the biggest kudos go to director Boyle, who creates an astonishing film. For Boyle to go from science fiction and zombie thrillers to taking on a project as daring and unusual as "Slumdog Millionaire" proves that he's not only a brave director, but a versatile one. His great success with making this film intense, eye-opening and full of heart all at the same time prove that he's also an incredible one. "Slumdog" is just the beginning for Boyle who might be one of the most progressive and talented directors working today. It's hard to be completely blown away by a film whose core message is about destiny and leans on the fact that Jamal is simply fated to do this well in explaining what has unfolded, but like any good film ought to, Boyle makes you a fan of the characters and not care as much about the logistics as you might normally do. The fact that this film starts out so dramatic and real makes it hard to embrace the fairytale it blossoms into, but it's the great visual storytelling along the way that makes it so enjoyable. ~Steven C Visit my site at http://moviemusereviews.com/

Slumdog Millionaire is one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2008 but the hype surrounding it is a bit undeserved. Don't get me wrong, this is at the very least a good movie and is quite a terrific movie 2/3 the way through. What the movie does though in the last 1/3 is make the fatal mistake of turning into a Hollywood or maybe in this case a Bollywood movie. It takes away from that genuine and satisfying feeling. The acting all around was very good particularly from Dev Patel and the small kids. There performance are probably the only thing that is overlooked in this film. Without much of these very good performances the movie would not have been at the level it was at.The directing of Danny Boyle was his best yet. The look of the film was amazing and many screen shots of India were breathtaking. The musical score was very fitting to the style of the movie. It was one of the best scores of 2008. Where this film fell apart was at the writing. Towards the end its withdrew into a standard romance. It was no longer the great and amazing adventure we had witnessed for most of the movie. The complex relations seemed to be over simplified and it does the safe thing to do in the approach of tone but if taken into a drastically different direction could have lead it to be a real classic. Yet instead of ever peaking or sky rocketing to greatness it had plateaued and didn't deliver the way I had hoped it would, this largely in part by the failure of the screenplay. Many people have compared this film to City of God because the film are actually similar in many ways. Yet City of God has something Slumdog Millionaire does not have which is depth and character motivations. These things are vital to these kind of movies being successful. City of God seemed to have a more plausible story because the story was more linear. Events took place as a result of other events. This did not happen in Slumdog Millionaire, the story was more chopped up and too many of the events just seemed to pop up out of no where. Slumdog Millionaire did take a very ambitious approach in the way it was made which is commendable. Is this a 1st rate movie though? The answer to that is no.