Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage
Slumdog Millionaire
Directed by: Danny Boyle & Loveleen Tandan (co-director from India)
Running time: 120 minutes
Release date: November 12, 2008 (Limited)
Genre: Art/Foreign, Drama, Comedy, Adaptation (In English & Hindi with English subtitles)
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Slumdog Millionaire traces the fortunes of an uneducated orphaned young man from Mumbai (aka Bombay slums of India,) working as a waiter who wins 20 million rupees on the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" quiz show. Unfortunately, he finds himself in jail as a cheater, and it stalls him from searching for his lost love. The movie is based on Vikas Swarup 's book SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE: A NOVEL,
18 year old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel)is the big winner of the quiz show; however, the program host, played by Anil Kapoor, tells the local police Jamal is a cheater. Fortunately, while Jamal is held, he gives an account of his life as an alibi for the correct answers. Through a series of exhilarating flashbacks Jamal explains to the Police Inspector (Irrfan Khan) how episodes in his life gave him the answers to each question. All this action is paralleled with his search for his childhood sweetheart Latika (Freida Pinto) who has been abducted and pimped by his crime minded older brother Salim (Madhur Mittal). Jamal's explanations via flashbacks is a format for the questions asked on the quiz show that prompts separate incidents in his life.
Slumdog Millionaire is similar to Forrest Gump a la India. Watching the assorted characters and stories in his life, was like watching a mini-series. The younger actors of Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Rubina Ali and Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar gave outstanding performances as Jamal, Salim and Latika in their early years.
Danny Boyle directs a very clever movie at a relentless pace that weaves a story that is sweet, sorrowful and funny. The genres in this film range from melodramatic to a fairy tale. Seemingly effortless humor, drama, romance and social realism is portrayed by gifted actors who give brilliant performances . This epic film triumphs with thrilling and endearing scenes which get to the heart and soul of India. These scenes, however, can be understood throughout the world.
I recommend viewers not take your eyes off of the screen, because it's possible to miss an important chapter in the character's lives. I've seen this movie twice and loved it even more the second time around, because I was able to catch things on screen I missed the first time.
This is a sure to be an Academy Award nominee.
FILM RATING (A+)
|
>