#1106- Slumdog Millionaire (2008)Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Plot Summary: Jamal Malik, a young man from the slums of Juhu, is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Before filming the next episode of the game show, he is detained and interrogated by the police, under the suspicion of cheating. Jamal explains to the police that he knows the answers to the questions by luck in that every question pertains to a memory he has had in his life. As he recounts the events of his life, he goes into detail about his estranged relationship with his brother Salim, the loss of his mother, and his never ending search for the woman he loves, Latika. It is because of Latika that he goes on the game show, knowing it's her favorite and hoping that she is watching.
I love when a movie comes out and surprises me by exceeding all of my expectations. In 2008, when the entire world was going crazy about Slumdog Millionaire, I decided to not follow the trend and avoided the movie as much as possible. When it won Best Picture, it didn't help anything and I made sure to abstain from it further, believing that it only earned awards because of it caused a lot of independent buzz and started a trend of India dominating pop culture around the time. So when I sat down to finally check the film out, I was expecting to HATE it, but I too was won over by the film's charm and appreciated Danny Boyle's critically acclaimed contribution to film with a strong collection of characters, an interwoven plot, catchy music, and compelling cinematography.
The film is centered on the life of Jamal Malik, played by Dev Patel. Since the film is mainly told through flashbacks, we are given an early impression of Jamal thanks to his success on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. His development is shown in his loyalty towards two main relationships (which I will get into soon). Patel might come off as a bit bland, but I actually think it adds a bit of charm and uniqueness to the character. For someone who has undergone so much pain and turmoil in such a young life, you could imagine he wouldn't be some jovial happy character, but rather would have a very calm and neutral demeanor and I think Patel does that very well while playing Jamal.I know a lot of people really enjoy the love story aspect of this film, but it's something I actually think is one of the film's weakest points. The biggest detriment to the love story is through the character of Latika, played by Freida Pinto. Latika's big character flaw is that she doesn't seem to ever think for herself and only has actions based on what others tell her to do (including Jamal). If anything, she's more of an idea or plot point for Jamal than a well-developed love interest.
In fact, the better relationship developed throughout the film is that of Jamal and his brother Salim, played by Madhur Mittal. On the surface, Salim is a completely reprehensible character who does terrible things the entire time. It makes it very difficult to even empathize with Salim if it wasn't for the fact that he is motivated by protecting him AND his brother. As the onion layers of his character are peeled back, you can see a caring brother that is unfortunately motivated by greed as well. I'm sure there were enough viewers who wanted Salim to get his comeuppance in the form of violence, but I personally was rooting for the brothers to reconcile their differences, and in a way the film satisfies by providing both types of resolution.
The best part of Jamal's growth as a character is how it is relevant in all of his questions while he is a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Through the game show, we are given the window to Jamal's flashbacks to childhood and adolescence to see how far he has come in his life. Add a very entertaining game show host in the form of Prem Kumar, played by Anil Kapoor, and we've got very amusing scenes of banter between the two while Jamal is in the hot seat. As a fan of the game show, I love the attention to detail that is given to these scenes, particularly in implementing the show's theme music, sets and catchphrases, as it helps give the film an element of authenticity.
When looking at films that have won Best Picture, you can't help but wonder if it deserved the win the award all these years later. With films like The Dark Knight, The Wrestler, Wall-E, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button all receiving critical acclaim and attention, it's arguable that each film would be a credible choice for a nomination alone (only Benjamin Button was nominated however). At first, I thought there was no way Slumdog Millionaire could compete with these films, but it actually holds up really well. It isn't just about Jamal's life or being a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, but is more a collective telling of how the two coincide and is handled beautifully. The cinematography and music really help make this film a collective accomplishment in all elements of filmmaking and definitely deserved to the title of Best Picture in 2008.Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I definitely believe that Slumdog Millionaire is worth watching, but I know it's not going to be for everyone to own in their collection. Still, it's worth seeing at least once, so give it a rental and prepare to have the song "Jai Ho" stuck in your head afterwards.
Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review
Slumdog Millionaire and movie images are copyrighted by Fox Searchlight Pictures
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