Customer Reviews

Slumdog Millionaire

5 star:		(178)
4 star:		(79)
3 star:		(53)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(52)

 

 

I saw this movie back in the Christmas season last year with some reluctance. Were it not for a good friend edging me on I probably would not have bothered. I incorrectly sensed that it was just another drippy foreign film about drippy people living on the edge and getting lucky.

Boy was I wrong.

This is such a smart, cleverly woven story with a classic twist--reminding me of Dickens--and all the stuff we love about life, but what's really striking--and I just watched this twice on DVD--is the precious love that is expressed here.

Lump in throat anyone?

Goosey bumps, too?

I just lap it up. Call me a sucker--but I had to re-play the last two minutes over and over again--where our hero brushes his sweetie's scarred cheek...and you either already know or will know the rest. It just kills me every time.The quintessential message is: LOVE OVER $$, GOLD, whatever, ANY DAY!

Amen.

Do not buy this DVD if you are interested in the special features listed on the box and at the Amazon site. This DVD does not contain the making of, the deleted scenes or the audio commentary. The special features contain only trailers for 4 other movies. The movie is great, but the main reason I bought the DVD was to watch the making of. This false advertisement was a complete disappointment.

Most of the people that have criticized this movie have complained of the horrors that our hero faces. Quite frankly, they have a valid point. The gritty nature of this movie is probably a shock to the system for most. I know it was for me. But if you sit down to watch this movie, you realize that so much of our knowledge isn't learned in school. It's learned every day as we face reality, even if that reality is a cruel one (as in Jamal's case).

Jamal's back story (and the reason he knows the answers to India's version of, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire") is startling and charming and important, all at the same time. If you really want to understand everything good about this movie, take it in and let yourself be affected by the tragedy portrayed. No doubt, there are many "slumdogs" out there who face loss and human cruelty far worse than Jamal did in this film. Can you imagine? Because of the lessons I learned and because this movie didn't shy away from teaching me them, it deserves every accolade.

I think this movie is a true masterpiece of cinema. So beautifully woven together - the music, the cinematography, the screenplay, the performances, the art direction, the love story. It all works together on so many levels and this movie touches me more deeply than most of the movies I've seen in my life. I went to see it like five times in the movie theater and I felt as if I had traveled to another place without even leaving my seat! It's that much of a cinematic experience. A LOVELY PIECE OF WORK!

Length:: 0:33 Mins

I normally can't abide Bollywood, with its predictable plots, overblown sentimentality, and saccharin endings (in which everybody dances). But this movie was a marriage made in heaven -- the realism of growing up in the slums of Bombay plus the all-important final dance number.

In all honesty, I found parts of this movie hard going, and not just because of the violence. Bombay, from the perspective of the have-nots, is something straight out of a nightmare (Charles Dickens, eat your heart out). The only reason the beginning of the film wasn't overwhelming was because Jamal's childhood was meted out in flashbacks, which gave us an occasional rest as well as the assurance that everything might work out after all.

I have to say that even knowing that a happy ending was probably in sight (this was an Indian film, after all), Slumdog Millionaire was nail-bitingly tense. There were moments when I actually wondered if our hero would get the quiz-show answer right, or if he would indeed "get the girl," as heroes generally do. But afterwards, when all was said and done, the images that remained with me were not of the happy dancing masses, but of the tattered, abandoned children of Bombay. It seems that Bollywood is finally growing up.

I have read a few reviews that bashed Slumdog, and though I see a point to them, I LOVE this film. I have lived in Faridabad ( just outside of Deli), and have firsthand seen some of the things the film touched on. In the spirit of Mira Nair, Boyle opens ones eyes to this incredible country, but he doesn't sugar coat things like most Bollywood films ( which are basically musicals, some with depth others that are laughable but enjoyable nonetheless).
Slumdog divulges what real India is like: a fight for survival, but one that has moments of beauty in it as well. Again, MOMENTS. The amount of children MUTILATED and forced by parents and others to work is disgusting. It is beyond belief. I was in the Deli area, and that has nothing on Calcutta or some of the bad areas of Mumbai.
And despite this, one can see a beauty in these people that simply does not exist in the West. One brief scene ( SPOILER) in the movie when Dev is about to play the last round of Millionare, a woman on the street taps on his window and says 'go and win it all'. THIS type of genuine 'I'm happy for you', aka namaste, aka respect exists amongst the dire poverty.
And then Slumdog dives into the Muslim-Hindu tension. In the kashmir region, fighting is horrendous. This type of confusion, dislike, and sometimes hatred exists between these two religions, and now with the recent terrorist attacks, things aren't looking too good.
Slumdog Millionaire shows how hard working, diligent, determined, and driven many ( most) Indians are in their fight to survive and feed themselves/their families. The main character has to do this from when he was born, which is a sad reality for many infants/kids there.
THE FILM IS ARTISTIC, FAST PACED AND TYPICAL BOYLE STYLE, WITH A GREAT SOUNDTRACK.
Please watch it, and then DO something about what you have seen. Go and visit the country. It will change your life.

Movie goers love a film where the hero triumphs over the most adverse conditions to attain a goal. And this goes back further than the pinnacle of this genre, ROCKY. So what did the voters of the Academy do this year when it came to an Oscar winner for best film? They picked SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

This movie features the most improved character when it comes to tough times. The major plot of the film is actually quite simple. A young man goes on TV in India for a WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIR show. His goal is to make enough to find the girl of his dreams and settle down with her. That's it. And yet, that's not all there is to it.

The film uses a combination of present day situations combined with well executed flashbacks to show just how fortunate he is on the show. Each and every question asked of him is something he has learned through the rough and tumble times of his life. And troubled times they were.

As the film opens our hero, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is being interrogated by the police. His suspected crime is cheating on the game show he is winning. How could someone of his background, a dweller from the poorest community in Mumbai (thus the Slumdog portion of the title), possible know the answers to these questions? As he is questioned, he provides the police chief as well as the viewers of the story of his life and how he came to know them.

As a small child Jamal and his brother Salim play amid fields of garbage while living with their mother. A riot involving the Muslim and non-Muslim factions leads to their mother's murder and their quickly becoming orphans. Along with a young girl they meet named Latika, they live off the street until they are rescued by a missionary who collects young orphans.

But this is no real missionary as it turns out he uses the small children to scam people on the street into giving them money. He collects it all. He even goes so far as to blind those that can sing so they will make more money. With a little luck, Salim, Jamal and Latika escape, only to have Latika captured before they can get away.

Jamal is infatuated with Latika and his search for her spurs the romantic side of the story. He and his brother search for her until the day she is found. But this leads to more tragedy as Salim gets a gun and becomes a young gangster involved with crooks in town. A break between brothers results in Latika and Jamal parting ways once more.

More and more happens to Jamal and each experience shows his determination to find a better life as well as Latika. And while Jamal works hard, attempting to rise above his circumstances, Salim dives into the worst the world has to offer, making a living for himself but at what cost?

The end result is Jamal's appearance on the game show where he has the chance to make more than he could have ever dreamed of. And with the money he has the chance to rescue Latika from the fate that befell her not only at the hands of Salim but of the local gangster head who has chosen her for his own.

There are more scenes and difficulties than I've listed here, but better to see them for yourself. And the best part of this film was the slow unspooling of the tale, as Jamal recounts his life and how each part of it provided the answers he needed to win, The world through his eyes is one of hope, the eyes of Salim a despair. How two brothers can see the world differently makes up a major portion of the tale.

All of the acting in the film is impressive not only for the professionals but for the children who play them in their youth as well. Chosen to play these parts were actual children from the area, the real slumdog children. Dev Patel as the adult Jamal has a future ahead of him granted he gets parts as good as this one.

So was this the best film that came out last year? Good enough that it deserved the Oscar for best film? Yes, it is an exceptional film. But I can think of others I enjoyed more. Then again I've rarely agreed with what the Academy chooses over the past few years. But if you enjoy good storytelling, then you'll want to make a point of watching this film. You won't be disappointed.

When I watch this movie I cry my head off.
Of course sometimes thats just what I need :)
This movie follows characters from childhood to adult
Genius film making rarely seen ... done with finesse in slumdog.
Depictions in this movie are sometimes disturbing it
makes you think - these things are likely not fabricated ...
its a matter of chance they happened or not to you or other
characters in the movie ... a reflection on stuggles and
triumps from childhood to adulthood with emphasis on how things
that happen to a person affect them for life and influence
the way they turn out ... facinating ... a movie you can
watch more than once .. A requirement for any movie worth
owning = D Highly recommended by ED

Slumdog Millionaire is set in Mumbai (Bombay), India's slums focusing on a young boy Jamal Malik (Dev Patel)
He is a "slumdog", which is slang for street-kid.

The first scene opens up on Jamal who has somehow been selected to appear on India's Version of the TV show, "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" Jamal is not expected to win because of his disadvantaged roots, but he has had some unique experiences as a kid that enable him to guess the answers correctly. Many flashbacks are shown as he is interrogated by police on how he knows the correct answers to very difficult questions.

The story flows and moves at a good pace. The life experiences of terrible poverty and treatment of children in Mumbai are both sad and somewhat funny at times. The children know no other life. The movie is full of life experiences as we see Jamal growing up with constant challenges. He falls in love, comes close to death and overcomes many hardships. Everything ends tied together in a neat little package.