Every year there seems to be a film that comes out of nowhere and absolutely blows me away. Last year that project was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a project I knew little about but saw one day out of pure curiosity. It ended up being my second favorite film of the year and was absolute perfection in just about every way. This year, it's Slumdog Millionaire - a truly unforgettable film with so much heart it's impossible not to fall in love with it. It works on so many levels - as a coming-of-age piece, a sweeping romance, a social commentary, a tragic drama, a gangster film - there's a little something for everyone on display here. The direction from Danny Boyle is phenomenal and easily his best work to date. The entire thing has so much energy, color and life to it that it's hard not to become captivated - it's beautifully photographed by Anthony Dod Mantle, who captures the vibrant nature of an India that the average moviegoer has never seen. It moves at a fast pace, keeping the feel of an epic tale despite a concise running time. And above all Boyle manages to avoid treading into melodramatic territory by adding bits of comedy to the proceedings when things get a bit heavy. The entire finale could have very easily felt cliched, but it's executed so well that the average viewer won't even notice. The entire cast is fantastic too. Dev Patel is absolutely fantastic and it's impossible not to feel something for his character. He gives the role a great deal of vulnerability and innocence despite the fact that the character has experienced so much - it's critical that the role is played this way to differentiate Jamal (the protagonist) from his doomed brother Salim, who falls into a life of crime and corruption. Freida Pinto is a great love interest as Latika and the two have an undeniable chemistry that feels completely believable. The other adult actors are great as well, but the real standouts here are the child actors who play the central characters at young ages. Ayush Mahesh Kedekar is probably the best of the bunch, and is adorable and charming as a younger 7-year-old Jamal, and also gives the role a surprising amount of emotional depth once the heavier aspects of the plot start to kick in. I also wanted to mention two other key aspects that make this film work so well. First off, the screenplay by Simon Beaufoy is absolutely brilliant and easily one of the best of the year. The way that the gameshow was integrated into the story as a whole was flawless - I couldn't believe how well it worked and helped tie every event together. The characters were all incredibly developed as well and there wasn't a single main character I didn't feel for at some point during the film. The musical score also gives the movie a modern edge that contributes to the fast pace, with A.R. Rahman's score integrated with various M.I.A. pop songs. There's really nothing else to say about Slumdog Millionaire. This is a movie for almost every audience. This is a movie for romantics. But above all, this is a movie for film lovers. From the opening frames of Danny Boyle's hypnotic masterpiece to the heart-pounding, tearjerking and undeniably satisfying finale, there won't be a moment where you aren't completely enthralled. Easily one of the best films of the year. A+

OMG M.I.A. FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG?

Such an amazing film. Danny Boyle did an amazing job. The direction was perfect. The actors were great. The whole movie is easily an A and one of the best films of the year. Oh, AND I MET DANNY BOYLE!!! Q&A bitches. Talked to him after. Got a picture. Coolest guy ever.

9.5/10

I was a bit underwhelmed.

I guess I should explain a bit?
So there were definitely things to admire here: lots of excellent shots of the slums of India, often great multi-sensory effects (perfectly syncing music, narrative, other sounds and camerawork once in awhile), and good energy. It felt modern without trying too hard to be. But....the narrative as whole never came together enough to justify the many moments of sentimentality (which Boyle specifically states he tried to avoid...not sure how). In addition, there was no character development outside of the very superficial.
Lots of people are comparing to City of God, but I found it quite the anti-City of God. It was fundamentally optimistic, and most of the moments of attempted grimy, cold realism came across as quite cheesy as well. The one exception would be the entire sequence with the boys' mother and the chase that ensues...that was all quite perfect in integrating brutality, culture, style and emotion. Actually, the more I think about it there were lots of good bits [that one, the introduction of Latika, the ummm,....shit scene, the whole tour guide thing], but it never came together in understanding the life it was attempting to show escape from.
It was also quite stupid at times.

I enjoyed watching it, but sometimes almost felt embarrassed for watching it. It just never came together to say, or show, anything.

Not a great film, but worth checking out if you have the time.
Also, it's just about as much of an "art film" as Juno was an "indie"

mehhh....B-

It's good but nowhere near what I expected. It's not the secondcoming that the reviews have lead many to believe.

I liked the first two stories of Jamal, Salim, and Latika (child and preteen) more that the last one. Something didn't ring true with the present day jail and gangster stuff, along with the game show bits.

It was cool to see many of the locations I visited in Mumbia this time last year.

Danny Boyle's exhilarating Slumdog Millionaire is a feast for both the eyes and the soul. There are so many things to love about this movie: the film's dynamic visual style (I've never seen subtitles displayed in such a fashion), terrific acting from all involved (especially Dev Patel, who easily captures the audience's sympathy and attention), a multi-layered screenplay that works as a romance just as well as it works as a mystery/thriller. I could go on and on. Although it contains moments of grimness and devastation, I defy anyone to leave this film feeling anything but hopeful and elated. This is the second best movie I've seen this year behind The Dark Knight and I'm looking forward to it receiving some well-deserved award attention. A

The first and second acts of the movie are really great. However, the movie lost me with the sensationalism of the third and final act. It's a great movie but not "the best picture of the year." There were just too many things that didn't click with me the last 1/3 for it to beat Milk or TDK for that title.

But it is worth catching. A-

Saw this again today. I just absolutely adore this film - it's spectacular. The final montage at the end always gets to me.

Oh right...I forgot that there was a montage. There's a certain limit to how good any film with a recapitulatory montage can be.

Slumdog Millionaire is worth about 625,000 bucks...

Yeah - - it's got a great premise; it's got three convincing triads of actors playing the three lead roles; it's setting is foreignly familiar; it's a downright crowdpleaser (the oldtimers were goin' wild for it, ya know... standing ovation at the end wild...); the setting is altogether convincingly real in a colonial nightmare kinda way; the old school Bollywood supporting cast (how could we forget?!?); it's a crazy action movie/ thriller/ horror/ comedy/romance/musical - - sound familiar?

My only problem is that the whole thing didn't all come together to make a brilliant overall movie - - the parts were greater than the sum of the whole - - just like two of the movies I've seen this past week - - the first, the tragically and horrifically failed Australia, and then the much better Clint Eastwood opus - - Changeling. None of these three movies had that breathtaking, film-uniting screenplay to carry them right up and through the roof of the theatre auditorium into what we 'round here like to call - - reality.

But Slumdog Millionaire is right up there in the fascinating near successes group of Fall 2008 films - - but then, not every film can be as briiliant as the other films I picked from this Autumn to be on my '08 top ten list:


So, I have to call it a tie between Changeling and this film for second tier quality films along with earlier qualifiers Synechode, New York and Happy-Go-Lucky - - so Slumdog Millionaire rates a...

15 out of 5.

A bunch at AD have seen this and there's definitely a crowd of "Good enjoyable watch but how is this sitting at the top of the BP race again?" building. This is so doomed to the Crash/Babel/Juno fate.

Several weeks after seeing it, I still don't understand the hype.

Sometimes critics just need something to cling to guess.

The problem with Slumdog Millionaire is it's director Danny Boyle. As with most of his other movies, he knows how to set up a premise brilliantly, but forever fails to close the deal. The exact same thing happened with his Millions (BTW, what is it with him and millions?!?)

Here's part of my review from that one:



Sound familiar? Same thing happened in Sunshine, too:



Still, despite it's similar faults, Slumdog Millionaire was his best attempt at directing in years - - perhaps he just needs to think about calling in a relief pitcher director to come in and close out these games movies for him...

That's because a lot of people at AD (and here, whether they admit or not) are film snobs.

Anything that is considered mainstream or generally well-received by audiences gets shit from them just because they can't function without reacting that way.

Or maybe such films are not really great and are built partly around hype.

I'm not really commenting on Slumdog Millionaire specifically, more of a general trend with some people who are on AD and their ilk.

Take any movie that won a bunch of Oscars and also made a lot of money and I bet you'll find most people at AD probably don't like them.

Somebody come agree with me quickly!

I'm so rooting for this to defy KJ's preconceived notions and not turn into another Juno or Crash.

AKA a movie I don't have to hear get dragged through the mud every 2 seconds on the forum while I "stand by it."

LIbs, you think I made up my mind before I saw it....but I did not! Look at my post somewhere near the top of this thread, I was clearly very excited. Just saying...

I don't really see any substantiation for this. I mean, I would hardly classify Babel or Crash as typical mainstream fare? I mean, there are plenty of avid fans for "The Dark Knight" to be found within both those communities. I can't really think of anything that is a better representation of something embraced by audiences and critics alike.

Perhaps it's that many of those posters don't like shitty, pandering movies which critics and/or awards bodies love? I can't really speak for Babel (not having seen it), but Crash is just terrible, and Juno is far from the best 2007 had to offer. Just curious, but what was the last major Oscar contender that you genuinely disliked? I'm sure there are some, but I don't see why you have to be a "film snob" to have your taste not be completely in line with the Academy's (and I'm not sure how close that is to "mainstream" taste, at any rate).

ETA: This doesn't really have any bearing on "Slumdog" either, as I haven't seen it yet.

I love AD's critics board actually. Not to take anything away from KJs, but it's nice to see a high quantity of in depth reviews for awards films, they have discussion as opposed to our isolated reviews and general one liner-esque sentiment statements.

You can totally disagree with the Academy or have different opinions from them. If you got the impression I was saying people who have in the past or do are snobs, I apologize.

But I just feel like I read through the AD forums and it's just constant bashing of mainstream stuff on a consistent basis. Maybe I'm reading the wrong threads, I'm not an incredibly frequent lurker there or anything.

Oh, I wasn't really referring to you one way or the other. More that "Fuck Slumdog Millionaire" club that got started forever ago.