At The Movies: Slumdog Millionaire

Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan

Directed by: Danny Boyle

It’s been a minute since a movie review has been posted up on the site, and quite frankly, none is more worthy than the new Danny Boyle film, Slumdog Millionaire. It is supposed to be this years ‘little engine that could’ Oscar nomination similar to Little Miss Sunshine and Juno in past years, but it is much closer to a tour de force in the form of a classic Mustang, as opposed to any little engine. The script, the score (including brilliant placements of M.I.A.), the cinematography and the direction is tremendous and the vision from the original book, Q and A, is a perfect translation, in which all the necessary changes and updates were made to fit many tongue-in-cheek commentaries and jabs regarding the ‘American’ Dream.

It starts off with Jamal, played by a relatively unknown (unless you are accustomed to the British show “Skins”) Dev Patel, being interrogated by a Mumbai police officer, played by the incredible Irrfan Khan, regarding a speculation that he cheated in order to get to the final question on India’s Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. He is constantly referred to as a ‘slumdog’ and it is found impossible that a regular Joe like him could be so smart, even by the show’s host, played brilliantly by Anil Kapoor. After some ‘shocking’ treatments and still no confession of being a cheat, the story settles in with Jamal reviewing with the cop how he came to know the answers to the questions. The result of this is filmmaking is clever, witty dialogue, courtesy of Simon Beaufoy (“The Full Monty”), along with plenty of laughs, sobs, gasps, jumps and triumph throughout the very thorough and gripping story.

By revisiting Jamal’s life (via flashbacks with performances from tremendous child actors), the audience isn’t only exposed to how Jamal knew these answers, but also his relationship with his sadistic, yet loving older brother Salim, the love of his life, Latika and even his experiences with a child labour exploiter. The cinematography, in typical Danny Boyle film fashion, is beautiful and some of the camera shots capture the situation, the intensity, and the drama more than words ever could. It is also a barrage of colour; necessary colour or lack thereof in accordance with top notch timing and style. The only downfall may be the downplaying of a slum lifestyle in the gutters of India, as it is slightly beautified at times. Oh, and just when you think it avoids every Bollywood stereotype possible, in comes the end credit dance sequence.

That still isn’t enough to slow this film down from the massive run it should/could be on towards the end of 2008 and start of 2009. Unlike other movies of this kind and movies with this sort of indie hype, Slumdog does not run the risk of being overrated or misconstrued. It is what it is, a great film that can draw out emotion and interest from even the most stone-faced slumdog, millionaire, or anything in between.

94/100