Slumdog Millionaire
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Movie Reviews of Slumdog Millionaire
Movie Review: Interesting story of love and emergence from the slums of Bombay
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like Charles Dickens and, to a lesser extent, Horatio Alger, you'll love this movie.
Jamal and his older brother Salim are children of the Bombay (now Mumbai) slums. The viewer is not spared the very apparent misery of those slums and the legions of poor who pick through the garbage, the beggars the very lowest on the social ladder.
The tale is of Jamal, Salim and a girl, Latika, who becomes attached to them under horrible circumstances as very young children. Taken under the wing of a villain lifted directly from Dickens, but who is probably all too real in such poverty, the children are groomed for lives as beggars and prostitutes.
Fate conspires to separate Jamal and Salim from Latika. The boys go off on their not-very-honest adventures across India. A few years later - with the kids being played by different actors now to reflect their emergence into adolescence - Jamal returns to Bombay to search for Latika, a rather daunting task in a city of 19 million, but as a product of the slums, he knows where to look.
The story takes darker and darker turns with the would-be lovers separated again and again.
Finally, in an unlikely set of coincidences, Jamal winds up as a winning contestant on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and as a victim of police torture.
There are more twists and turns to this story than you can count, but the literate viewer will be able to identify all the plot devices lifted from classics and name their authors. Dickens and Dumas are prominent as is Shakespeare and numerous others. In short, this is a brilliant concept for a love story, turned into a compelling script and then an irresistible movie. It is a classic love story as well as poor-boy-makes-good. Some might be put off by the brutal depiction of Indian poverty, violence and generally depressing lives of many shown in this film.
Jerry
Movie Review: shockingly good
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, the VERY first thing I need to say is this-
Do NOT let the previews you've seen of Slumdog Millionaire fool you- this movie is much more than just a contestant appearing on a gameshow, winning money, and winning back his girlfriend for a happy conclusion.
Slumdog Millionaire is about MUCH more than that.
It's about the contestant winning money on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (the Mumbai version, which is the name of a city in India), but the storyline is more about how the contestant even GOT the opportunity to appear on the show, and the life long build-up of the contestants tragic and horrible past.
It's a story that focuses on the contestants past, and the way he had to grow up in a poor, dangerous and just unsettling and unhealthy environment. He had to go through life basically looking out for himself, along with his small group of friends, just to survive.
Throughout the movie, every time the contestant is about to answer a question on the gameshow, the story switches to something that happened in his past that enabled him to remember the answer to the questions he was being asked. Eventually there comes a point when the contestant answers so many questions correctly that he gets accused of cheating which leads to a little bit of violence.
It might sound a bit tacky, and maybe to some it is tacky, but to me, it was a story told exceptionally well, and I highly recommend this movie. What will happen to the contestants group of friends as they grow up and grow apart? Well, you have to see it to believe it. I was totally attached to Slumdog Millionaire the entire time and I can NOW see why the film received so many awards. The presentation is just amazing.
Great story, lots of tragic events and suspense, and just fantastic acting all around. Yup, it's one of those rare movies that does everything right.
Movie Review: One of the best movies I've ever seen!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a bit surprised to see any negative reviews here, but I guess different people feel differently so I won't get into anything other than why I thought this movie was off the charts!
First, like others, I'd heard all the hype, and just last night my wife brought it in and we watched it...
I can honestly say for my part, with all the awards it got, I was thinking prior to seeing it, could it really be that good?
Well now having seen it, I have to say it definitely is! I thought the filming was exceptional and the scenery was incredible! I've traveled a bit in my time on this floating sod of earth and I've always been amazed when in what are referred to as (Third World Countries), the people can have so little and still seem to be happy with life. Well not all of them but this movie delves into the underside of humanity also and although repulsive and shocking to some, it unfortunately is a reality as well and very graphically depicted in this film.
It jumps back and forth but it is very cleverly put together so that it all makes completely sense as it unfolds. I don't want to say more and spoil it for those that haven't seen it, but if you have ever wanted to see another country or the country of India, if you can't get there, this is a film that will take you there! And I thought the acting was superb!
We rented the movie.
I will definitely buy this movie having seen it now and I truly think it is one of the most amazing films, I've ever seen or that has ever been made!
Hat's off to everyone who made this project come to life and it's deserving, (Again in my opinion) of all the praise and then some!
Chase Von
Author of
Your Chance To Hear The Last Panther Speak
Movie Review: Unrealistic but exciting anyway...4 1/2 stars
Summary: 5 Stars
Slumdog Millionaire starts with a young man, Jamal, being tortured because he's suspected of cheating in a game show. When he finally gets the chance, he explains himself and how he knew the answers to questions contestants would have otherwise gotten wrong. The audience is then pulled through an interesting flashback to show what had been going on in this young man's life in the last 18 years. He was a slum child, whose life was full of deceit and violence, both coming from him as well as enemies. Many of his experiences were tied with a girl, Latika, who he hopes to reunite with someday.
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*
I admit there are some loopholes in the movie (e.g. Jamal has no formal education but grows up to speak perfect English--and with a British accent at that). And many parts are rather unrealistic--Jamal about to win the money, actually being able to find the same girl over and over, etc. However, I still loved every minute of it. Plus, unlike the countless Bollywood movies I've seen (note: SM isn't a Bollywood movie), this one actually takes us to the slums where the extremely poor are found. Many movies about the Indian subcontinent fail to show the reality that there are beggars and slums all around the cities. I know the scene with the boy being intentionally blinded was difficult to watch, but I'm almost sure situations like those happen in major Indian cities. The movie was just bringing the truth to the screen, which was ironic because so many other parts of the movie were unrealistic.
The soundtrack, by the way, is EXCELLENT. There's a reason why the music won so many awards. Be sure to enjoy that once you've watched the movie.
Movie Review: Triumph of the Human Spirit
Summary: 5 Stars
This film won several Oscars and deserved them all. It is a unique masterpiece that grabs the viewer on several levels: the story, the setting, the acting and the cinematography. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the story of how Jamal, a young, uneducated man, from India's lowliest slums, working in the most menial of jobs, achieves unprecedented success as a contestant on "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" It seems impossible to believe that he would have the kind of knowledge to answer a wide assortment of questions that clearly would appear to be outside his scope of experience. But therein lies the brilliance of the film: how he knows the answers to each question is woven into the fabric of his life's experiences and told in flashback.
Orphaned at a very young age when their mother is brutally murdered, Jamal and his older brother Salim, survive amidst trash dumps. Their lives are brutally harsh and made more so when they become ensnared by a professional gang of beggars, and later when they do what they must to eke out a living. Yet in each vignette of their lives something occurs that provides Jamal with the critical knowledge he uses later on the TV program. Threaded throughout his story is his undying passion for a little orphan girl, Latika, who he repeatedly loses and then finds only to lose her again.
This is a story of the triumph of the human spirit. No matter how battered down and hopeless life appears, Jamal never gives up. An unforgettable movie that has already become an "essential".