A Review of Slumdog Millionaire

I have to admit- despite all the hype and rave reviews, I was not really pumped about seeing Slumdog Millionaire. The trailer didn't really impress me at all. It just looked like it was going to be your average manipulative, cheesy inspirational film. Still, with all the incredible reviews it has been getting, the fact that it raped the Golden Globes and the general consensus that it will be getting the Best Picture Award at this year's upcoming Oscars (speaking of that, I have a rant coming up on this B.S. ceremony in a few days... just give me time to organize my angry thoughts; plus, I'm busy), I figured I needed to see it.

It wasn't that bad. In fact, it was really good. It definitely wasn't the best movie I've seen this year but it was really, really good.

I was really worried it was going to be cheesy and manipulative (much like my fears regarding the much-less effective The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) but it really wasn't (except for one moment, which I will get to later on). I was very impressed with the massive scope of the film, the overall impact of the story and that the fact that I truly cared what happened to the character of Jamal by the end of the film. 

I've really liked a lot of Danny Boyle's films up until this point in his career. I know a lot of people really disliked the third acts in these films but I really liked Sunshine and 28 Days Later. I also really liked Trainspotting, even though I had trouble understanding what anyone was saying because their accents were so thick. His direction in this movie is quite different from his direction in any of his other films. It features a lot of quick-moving camera shots, vibrant colors (Sunshine had a lot of these too but these are of a vastly different palette), and incredible energy. It is really impressive to watch. A lot of his direction kind of reminded me of some of the direction in City of God. There is some shaky cam and quick editing involved here in there but, unlike directors like Marc Forester and sometimes Paul Greengrass, it is employed in a skillful manner that is not distracting in any way. In fact, it only adds to the experience. Boyle really is a great storyteller visually and I really enjoyed seeing him employ his craft. He also has a great control over his actors and manages to get some great performances out of them. Although I wish Chris Nolan and Darren Aronofsky had been nominated this year, I won't be broken hearted if Boyle wins the Best Director Oscar.

One of the biggest things I was worried about in this movie was the story structure. I had heard that it was structured in that you would see Jamal get asked a question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and then you would see a flashback that showed how he knew the answer. It just felt like it would get repetitive fast. To my surprise, they managed to make it not that way at all. The flashbacks were always very fascinating to watch and always had a great variety to them. The lead ups to these flashbacks were always varied up and it never felt like a routine. I have to give credit to screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, director Boyle and editor Chris Dickens for pulling this off. 

I was surprised by how messed up and disturbing some scenes in the movie were. The character of Jamal has lived a hard life and has seen some pretty messed up things. Boyle does not shy away from showing these things (though I wouldn't say it ever becomes a violent film; many believe that the film should have received a PG-13 rating opposed to the R rating it got stuck with). These things give the film much more of impact than it already had.

I really liked all the actors in this movie. Dev Patal was great as Jamal. He really gave a great sense of the character's vulnerability, innocence and longing for love. His performance was mostly understated and subtle. I found it to be quite effective. I also really liked the guy who played the host of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? His scene with Jamal in the bathroom during the commercial break and its aftermath was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I really liked trying to figure him out. All of the actors in this movie were pretty solid. Even the child actors playing young Jamal, Latika and Salim were great. It is pretty rare when you can really be taken back by a child's performance. I really liked the kid that played the youngest version of Jamal. The scene when he's trying to get the autograph was great. 

What else about this movie was good? Well, the music was pretty great. My friends and I have been listening to MIA since early last semester so it was pretty great to hear "Paper Planes"while in a theater. I also really liked the song "O... Saya" that she did. The rest of the original music by A.R. Rahman were really good and really helped fuel Danny Boyle's amazing visuals and hyper-kinetic direction. In fact, I just got the whole soundtrack off of Amazon's MP3 Digital Downloads for 2 bucks. Yeah, 2 bucks. Be sure to get that while you can.

I was also pretty surprised at how effective some of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? sequences were. They did a good job of capturing the feeling of that show and what it is like to watch it. I was really tense in the final bit of it with Jamal. The last question asked was pretty brilliant. Good job on that. 

The love story was obviously a rocky one but I have to admit that I bought it. I can't say why but I just did. I cannot say the same for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

With all that said, I did have problems with this movie. I don't know a lot about India but I'm not sure if Jamal would have been arrested and tortured to the extent that he was just for doing well on a television show (note: this is not a major spoiler; the film starts with this scene and it is used throughout). It just felt a little forced and possibly a little over the top. Again, I could be wrong. I just am not sure it is completely realistic or not. If it is, then India really sucks. It's a beautiful place but man I would never wanna grow up there or live there.

Another problem I had with the movie was that it did get a little cheesy at the very end. Which is unfortunate because it managed not to be for so long. I just couldn't help but turn my nose at a certain still frame and the following random credit sequence that followed. Yeah, I get what they were going for but I just didn't feel it at the time. I just felt like too much for me. I dunno; maybe I'm alone on that one. 

This last compliant has nothing to do with the movie but I feel like talking about it anyways. I was sitting next to an old Indian couple that talked to each other the entire movie about stuff that was happening on the screen. It was kind of maddening. Why does this keep happening to me? Why can I not see one movie in peace? Just one would be nice. It really would. Please, God... please grant me peace tomorrow during The Wrestler. Please don't let that one get ruined for me too.

In the end, Slumdog Millionaire is not the best movie I've seen this year. Despite this, it is a really good one. It is incredibly engaging, vibrantly visual, well-crafted and pretty emotional. It manages to go into territory that could have suffered from mountains of cheesiness and even manipulation but manages to come out with class. It definitely is better than other Oscar fare like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. If you get the chance to see this one, please do. 

8/10