0
0
Rating: 5 out of 5
When “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” first came out, I was all about it and LOVED the show. The late and great Regis Philbin, god bless his soul, was terrific as the host. I loved how he would ask the contestant, “Are You Sure?” or “Lock It In.” His presence and just the way he spoke to the contestants were so special and heartwarming. The questions were so hard. I use to get the first one right because they were easy, but after that, it was game over for me, and I would lose soon after. I would’ve used all my lifelines in the first five questions.
Slumdog Millionaire is a movie that came along and used the popularity of the show and set it in India. It is a story that shows you that life does give you a lot of answers to questions that might make you a millionaire in life. A film that shows that one’s life and experiences can be an adventure of a lifetime.
Eighteen-year-old Jamal Malik (Patel), an Indian Muslim from the Dharavi slum, is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on the fame show Kaun Banega Crorepati. The day before, when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating. They wonder how a kid from the slums could answer questions and be so close to the grand prize. As the police interrogate Jamal, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slums with his brother and how each question he has answered was a significant life event. What confuses the police most about Jamal is not his desire to win the money. It is his desire to find a long lost love. With the nation watching his every breath, will Jamal be able to answer the final question?
First, let’s give some big ups to director Danny Boyle for presenting a story that has us intrigued from the very beginning. He made sure to hit the ground running with this film with a small torture scene but also having us think of a question like in “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” Yet, his eye and direction made this film so entertaining that you couldn’t look away from it because you wanted to see how Jamal got the answer.
Second, this film shows what life is like in India. How there is two India’s that the world might not see. On one side, we see the grand with the Taj Mahal and the high life. Yet, on the other side, we see the terrible side of life in India. Thousands of people washing their clothes in a river where the cows roam. It just looks dirty. How all the kids are packed in a little room and hit upside the head with a book. The slum side is just rough and hard living.
That is the strongest aspect of this whole movie. You are sucked in and enthralled with Jamal’s life and how he knows the answers. We get to see all of the 18-years that Jamal, his brother Salim and his crush Latika lived through ten questions. The film makes you think he cheated, but in actuality, he knows the answers from life experiences. That we all know the answer from dealing with a life experience, and this film does an outstanding job showing it. The first question starts off with a bang with knowing a famous T.V. actor. How does Jamal know the answer? He has to dive into a mountain of human s**t to get to his beloved actor. That was one of the craziest scenes to watch, but if you’re a super fan, you will do anything. That is what is so great about this film. We learn little by little about Jamal’s life and how he came to be in the seat where he can become a millionaire with each question.
I want to say that even with the good, the movie shows that Jamal lived through some f**ked up life. That his life wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. He grew up in the slums, and his mother was killed when he was really young. That his older brother was just a hoodlum but to survive, they had to do things. These kids straight up hustled their way through life. This is shown when they live on the train and just straight hustle anything they could get their hands on.
This film is also a love story between Jamal and his childhood crush Latika. Homeboy was crazy in love with Latika when they first met as they ran through the streets, trying to evade being killed for being Muslim. Then they ended up with a gangster where they continued to like each other only to be split up. These two were split up so many times, you didn’t think they would ever get together. I will tell you this, Latika, as an adult, was looking so FINE!
The cinematography and editing of this film were AWESOME! Making a movie go back and forth in time between questions was done so well, and it didn’t seem out of place. I like the editing because when we went to a flashback, it was a progression of Jamal’s life. It didn’t skip around all the time. It seemed like we grew up along with Jamal, and that is what made this movie work. It was a very nice and straightforward flow of the movie.
The music in this film is also outstanding. This film introduced me to that Bollywood flow music. That was some music you could nod your head to. We can’t forget Paper Airplanes by M.I.A. I used to bump that song a lot back in the day. If you don’t like that song, then I don’t know what is up with you because that was a club banger back in the day.
As far as the acting goes. This one is a tough one because so many actors and actresses did a great job. Dev Patel as Jamal Malik was cool but always had that bugged eyed look going because you could tell he was nervous. His younger counterparts were entertaining and a joy to watch. Freida Pinto was also good in her role, but damn, was she looking good. She was looking fine near the end, and I was like, “Go ahead Jamal! You got yourself a cutie!” Let’s give a big up to Anil Kapoor as Prem Kumar. Even though his character didn’t want Jamal to win, he was one of the best actors to watch. He was so much fun and entertaining.
Slumdog Millionaire is one of the best films I have seen in a while. The concept of showing one’s life while answering questions on a T.V. show is fantastic. The film is beautifully done with the music, direction, editing, and everything. Hell, the movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won eight of them, including Best Picture. The film will definitely entertain you with each question. Do you have what it takes to be a millionaire?
