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This review originally appeared during the Telluride Film Festival. Slumdog Millionaire opens in select markets tomorrow.
Danny Boyle’s latest offering, Slumdog Millionaire, is generating a fair amount of buzz here at Telluride. Not unlike last year’s Juno, the film showed up in one of the mysterious TBA slots, delighting audiences made weary by a slate of good but somewhat depressing films, such as Hunger, Waltz with Bashir and Adam Resurrected. Slumdog Millionaire follows the story of Jamal Malik, an unlikely winner of India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Jamal, his brother Samir, and fellow orphan Latika, manage to survive an almost absurd number of scrapes, the memory of each one coincidentally providing Jamal with answers to the game show questions. The film is big, fast, fun, and colorful, but ultimately a mess.
The hyperactive structure of the film is born out of the life experience-equals-game-show-answer formula. The first scene shows Jamal being tortured by police who suspect him of cheating, unable to believe that a “slumdog” orphan could know the answers to all those trivia questions. Jamal insists he really did know the answers, and the suddenly sympathetic cops disconnect the electrodes from his toes and decide to let him explain further as they watch a tape of the show. The one-two punch of crazy slum story providing an unlikely memory that later serves as a trivia answer becomes apparent very quickly, and never deviates through the entire film. This structure might have worked, but here it feels contrived and repetitive. The pace of the film is frantic, some of the flashbacks have comic merit, but by the third or fourth musical montage, it all feels too hectic and sloppy, especially considering the rigid and somewhat boring structure upon which the film is built.
People have been praising the performances in the film, and with the exception of the child actors and Bollywood veteran Anil Kapoor, I’m bewildered by this. Dev Patel’s Jamal is passable at best. He’s sympathetic, but most of the film he looks plainly dumbfounded at his own impossible luck. He gives us no real reason to care for him other than the fact that he’s a basically good person, and he’s in love.
The love story, seen by many to be central to the film, is sorely lacking. Jamal and Latika meet because they are both orphans, she’s first allowed to run with Jamal and Samir out of pity. The brothers loose track of Latika, only to later rescue her from forced prostitution. The would-be lovers are again pulled apart when Samir, who has turned to a life of crime, forces her to become a part of his crime lord’s harem. Jamal’s impetus for being on the game show, and his motivation to continue his stellar run, turns out to not be about money at all, but rather to get on TV in hopes that Latika, where ever she is, will see him. Sure enough, she does, and with the help of an inexplicably reformed Samir, she escapes the harem to find Jamal, her one true love. It’s the kind of shallow love story that plagues many Hollywood films.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a “love conquers all” philosophy propping up a film, but the whole thing collapses if that love doesn’t feel genuine. Freida Pinto as Latika, like Patel’s performance, is so-so at best. The film is too crowded and busy to allow any chemistry to build between these two. Sure, they’ve helped each other out of crazy situations, but just because a fireman saved my life doesn’t mean I’d want to marry him. When Jamal emphatically claims that being with Latika is their “destiny,” we’re forced to take his word for it.
Some will say that many of my issues with the film are due to the fact that I’m not seeing it as Boyle’s homage to Bollywood. While it’s true that the film is deeply indebted to the colorful and melodramatic musicals that are a mainstay of Indian culture, I don’t think the film holds up even under this reading. The key problem goes back to the lead actors’ performances. Great Bollywood players are not naturalistic by any means, they are exaggerated, playful, and incredibly charismatic. It seems like Boyle couldn’t decide which way he wanted Patel and Pinto to play it. Should they be overly theatrical to match the color and up-tempo editing? Or should they play it more realistically, two normal people brought together by extraordinary circumstances? In the end they do neither.
Slumdog Millionaire is not without merit. It’s nothing if not an ambitious film, and certain scenes do work well. But ultimately it’s an annoying cacophony atop a predictable structure.
Kevin Buist
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Kevin, you clearly don’t seem to have any clue about india or in particular, mumbai.. you need to get of your air-conditioned office… take a week long trip to mumbai and then watch the movie again.
Kevin, Thanks for the heads up. I will be sure to catch this one on NetFlix and use the 10 bucks to order Indian Take Out.
kevin , i think you have no knowledge of being a movie reviewer.
Just watch the movie and its great.You might have some problem,contact your doctor soon. This is a awesome movie. Story might be from india but its for everyone. I am sure its going to get nomination for oscars and you will surely stop writing movie reviews
To paraphrase, and update, an old Rodney Dangerfield joke, look up “deus ex machina” in an online dictionary, and you’ll find a link to “Slumdog Millionaire”. It’s a thrilling fast-paced hipster version of Forrest Gump,but it’s still Forrest Gump, with an Indian accent( dot, not feather.) Not one of its hero’s successes are hard fought or earned; they come from insanely implausible coincedence. It’s deliriously goofy and compelling con, but those critics comparing it to Dickens because of a little Faginesque behavior ought to re-examine the careful way old Chaz constructs his plot contrivances. And the fact that Water, a much more heartbreaking India-based fairy tale film, got slammed for artifice a year ago just goes to show how a good PR campaign can still spin wonders.
All that said, it stands a great shot at a Best Screenplay and Best Picture nomination; it’s Rocky directed by a guy with the street cred of Quentin Tarantino.It could be this year’s giant success, unless some journalist debunks the entire “based on a true story” conceit.
[...] Herz geschlossen. Umso erfrischender, wenn es auch widerstrebende Meinungen gibt, wie zum Beispiel diese hier. In der Tat fühlt das feel-good-movie sich aus der Ferne etwas fischig an. Aber abwarten, in [...]
I just saw the film, and thought it was amazing! The cinematography and colors were so vivid, and the characters, especially the young boys, incredible. While I can appreciate some of the reviewer’s comments, it doesn’t diminish from an overall incredibly enjoyable immersion into the slums of India, and who would have thought that would be a vibrant journey that makes you long for more! I may have to check out Bollywood now… A++
It’s a great love story yes common but the premise of using a game show to find a girl is pretty unique.
I HYPED Slumdog Millionaire on EverHYPE and scored it 95%, which I think is very accurate.
http://www.everhype.com/hyper/mikeborgia?X=M700
If you get on there, rate me a 5 on it and request friendship.
I just saw this movie. We all loved it. The theater was packed. People watched right till the end, even the song during the casting. Then they stood up and clapped. I clapped to. And whistled. Go watch this one!
I watched this movie last night in Toronto and the theater was pretty much sold out! However what struck me was that at the end of the movie there was not a single person that got up to leave till all the credits were done. For anyone who doesn’t know this, most events in Toronto, the audience rushes to the exits to be the first ones out.
It was like they were riveted to their seats.
I thought it was an excellent movie and I have traveled to India many times since I was a kid. I am still horrified by the slums even after seeing them in person and I even remember seeing one of those blind kids on the train.
I wasn’t able to watch that scene in the movie!
I hope this is a break through movie that will bring light to these living atrocities and in some way help the people that live in those slums!
Kevin, you didn’t like this movie because, like all traditional conservativelyMYOPIC critics, you’re trying to shoehorn it into a particular genre. Is it Bollywood, drama, thriller, comedy, romance, musical, etc? What makes the film work is It’s not any one of those but all of those genres. - a feat that only a great director (like Danny Boyle)can pull off. Hence, your frustration.
ok, so in response to the comment ‘you don’t have a clue about india or mumbai’ from ryan, let me just say that im indian and i have been to india several times, including mumbai. i just watched this movie, and frankly i think it is one of the worst films i have ever seen. i agree with all of the criticisms above, and would like to add to them.
1. slumdog millionaire gratuitously exploits poor people and slums to make a millions of dollar earning box office hit, the profits of which will benefit…..no one from the slum that it exploits. this film romanticizes slums and the people in those slums, even though it seemed to be making an attempt at exposing to the world the deep gap between rich and poor in india.
at the end of teh day, this attempt was pathetic at best. city of god is guilty of committing the crime of exploiting, exoticizing and romanticizing slums and poor people as well. I went to Brazil in 2006, and sickeningly enough, after the makign of the movie, people have started to offer tours (to foreign tourists) of the actual slum called the City of God. This means that they (literally) charge tourists a fee to bus them into the favela, and show them the slum and inside the homes of poor people in Brazil. in order to do this, however, they have to pay off the drug lords in the local area so that they do not attack the tourist van. this is no joke, and not a made up fact. this is what the tour guide informed me of. THAT IS SO ROYALLY F***D UP!!!! EXPLOITATION TO THE MAXIMUM!!!!!
2. it totally stereotypes both Indian males and Indian females. The 2 women in the movie–jamal’s mother and Latika–were only depicted as victims to life, and to the cruel whims of men. In terms of Latika, she has no ownership over her Self and her life. Her character is not developed at all, to the point where it could be interpreted that her getting back with jamal at the end could be nothing more than her being happy that she’s going to be with someone who has showed his commitment to her since childhood, someone who is rich, and the fact that she no longer has to get beat up or work as a hooker anymore. whoever wrote her character obviously has no consideration of the dynamic role that a woman can play–and YES, that means an indian woman too. for a better depiction of poverty and the shit that indian women can go through, while STILL being feisty and full of life, check out the movie Bandit Queen. It is based on a true story and will bring you to tears in a way that this emotionally devoid pathetic excuse for a culturally representative film will never be able to do.
3. The men (except for Jamal) were all shown to one or more of the following characteristics: shiesty, untrustworthy, cruel, weak, ugly. an example of what i mean by weak is that they included gangsters in the movie, but no one anywhere was badass in the least!!! city of god may have been guilty of some of the same exploitations mentioned in this criticism, but AT LEAST there were some interesting action/gangstery scenes going on. i can’t think of any other film i have scene that includes both gangsters and police brutality, where nothing particularly brutal goes on at all. why did they even have to include any of that in the film? it seems so totally unnecessary. instead, it just makes all indian men seem weak and pathetic, except for jamal’s friend, whose character changes from scene to scene.
As an Indian person, the above mentioned representations of my people is quite disgusting and irritating to me.
additionally, this movie does a great disservice of portraying how BEAUTIFUL india can be, even the cities like Mumbai. every part of india is beauty balanced with ugliness. The depictions of this city were trash, slums, and half built buildings, with maybe a few compensatory shots of streets at night, and the taj mahal (of course….cuz that’s not cliche or anything). not saying that these things are not a part of India, because they are. but not much else of india was shown. They didn’t even show a single COW in the movie!!! cows are EVERYWHERE IN INDIA!!! this movie was far far far from anything even near accurate at all. if you want to see a movie with incredible cinematography that takes place in Mumbai, watch Monsoon Wedding. It is a thousand times better than slumdog millionaire.
so, if you like this movie, i hope you like it only because you like movie plots where people fall in love and overcome adversity to finally be together at the end. because that is pretty much the only thing that the movie had going for it–a decent love story. and, as mentioned above, even that wasn’t done so well.
I am absolutely baffled at your review. This riveting movie has had so many viewers including myself raving about the cinematography, vividness and charisma of the movie. It was a realistic outlook on India’s slumlife and the movie was able to bring out every emotion out of the viewer that was intended; sympathy, empathy, hope and humanity. I can atest to the other comments to your review and say that no one in the theatre got up for the casting credits at the end of the movie and immediately gave a standing ovation. I think you should find another interest because it appears that being a film critic is not your forte!
Mr. Kevin Buist, did you review any other film before?
just asked out of curiosity
I think u gotta watch this movie again
but please open your eyes this time.. I think u were sleeping while watching the movie
Lol!
um, Kevin, really?
Why are you qualified to write reviews.. perhaps another line of work for ya? Rigid and boring structure? are you blind, ignorant or just stupid? This movie is just the opposite and more entertaining than most movies out there. Sit back, enjoy the ride.. you’ll be glad you did.
thank you, kevin, for your well-written and accurate review of this film. the cinematography was a mess, using the trite skinny shutter/ choppy footage look. the characters were not compelling. the saccharine ending was nearly too much to handle.. not that this film was without merit- i did chuckle a few times. it almost felt like two different directors directed this film, one for the first half and another for the 2nd.
Kevin,
I agree completely with your review. I saw this with my 18 year old daughter last weekend, and we both came out of the theater shaking our heads in amazement at the rest of the audience’s enthusiasm. Cliched plot, poor performances (except for the child actors) and no chemistry between the lovers. And for God sakes Jamal - close your mouth!
Thank you!!!
I think this movie is for much younger audiences. I was struck by it’s lack of maturity in theme and some of the crap the director would have you swallow. “Sure, let me just take these electrodes off and we’ll have a little sit down, Jamal.”
Little chemistry, unbelievable story line and way too much Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The premise seems to be, “See, there is no real Indian culture. They care about and want the same things as you Americans, namely getting the girl and getting a lot of money! If I want this kind of simplistic tripe, I don’t need to go to an art house. I’ll netflix the Little Mermaid.
To Kevin Buist,
If you are going to write a detailed review you need to have the names right. The brothers are Jamal and Salim (not Samir).
some kinda junk reviewer like you, kewin cant even level headedly say what they mean or we cant understand what u mean. you urself is not sure if this movie is good or bad. go n watch this movie with ur brains intact n see what a genius director has to offer.
this reviewer is no worth any thought or money
To the above poster (cyndy said 1 week ago)
“cyndy” There are no child actors in this movie, they are kids living in Mumbai slums born to extremely poor parents. Next time you go watch a movie like this appreciate what the director is trying so hard to get at if not stick to your hollywood pretty women movies!
While I agree that the love story was imo lacking perhaps in part because of a lack of character depth to Latika, and and a feel of forced chemistry or destiny between the two older principle characters, I didn’t base my assessment of the movie solely on this, and enjoyed it as a whole.
Yes, the plot was coincidental, but the images they took us into were real. The orphanage that bloodies young stray orphans (which they rounded up as one would stray dogs), and proceeds to injure them for greater sympathy when begging is REAL. It is an industry in India, with the legs and arms of boys and girls cut up and then dispersed to the public with their hands outstretched saying “In God’s name, spare me some money.” Money which, of course, they don’t get to keep but give to their corrupt lords. (The little kid actors were magnificent, btw.)
It wasn’t real to the brim, but it mixed realism with a cultural mainstay that overlaps cultures: media — Who Wants to be a Millionaire specifically has now been exported to dozens of cultures successfully and the lifeline, phone a friend, fifty/fifty options as well as the thematic music are as known and relatable here in the States as it is in India, Britain, and elsewhere.
I watched it without relating to the love story at all (In fact at one point I wanted Jamal to forget Latika b/c in my eyes the underdeveloped heroine wasn’t worth it). But my friend loved the love story, as flimsy as it was. There are people who that’ll appeal to, and people like me who may be affected by other parts instead. I think Bollywood movies are cheesy, but to get the Bollywood crowd to feel at home with the film, those moments were essential. I feel like it aimed to capture a wide variety of people’s interest, and the fact that it could present such a vivid image of Indian crushing poverty while also entertaining and reaching such a wide international audience is so important.
There are few films like this, and yes, while the genre of such films can always get better, each one is an important stepping stone in increasing awareness and understanding and empathy. This film managed that. For that among other reasons, I enjoyed it, and I’m grateful.
I agree with Ryan, take a trip to India…
the movie is brilliant. boyle’s juxtaposition of a typical poor Indian life with a modern game show captures the complications and paradoxes of modernity perfectly.
I am an Indian and have grown up in India. For those of you who are telling the reviewer to go to India, dudes, how would going to India make Kevin more qualified to review this movie? I can bet most of the Slumdog zombies havent been to India themselves. So how do you know any better?As to whether Kevin is equipped to movie reviews, just because he does not nod zombielike because everyone else liked it, he is suddenly ineligible?
Geez.
By the way as an Indian who has grown up in India, I can say that SM is a sad exercise in ripping off the Bollywood style of storytelling with the worst stereotyping of India possible. There is nothing uplifting about the movie. At all.
I came away with an entirely different take on the movie as my fellow movie goers. I saw filth, evil to other people and what had to be done in order to survive in a county of this kind, all due to overpopulation. It made me understand why some people treat each other the way they do and how they react in business. It is a great film, well done. I appreciated how they showed this young mans knowledge of the answers. At the same time it showed how even a “middle class ” game show host treats another human being and how there is absolutly no trust in this country of millions. Truely and eye opening movie.
thank you.
thank you for an accurate review on this film…another movie overhyped for award season…it was entertaining but not a masterpiece
There’s no such thing as an “accurate” review. everything is subjective.
And to the reviewer: next time you review a film, you might want to get the character’s names right at least, you might have more credibility then.
THE REVIEW OF THIS JEW IS PREDICTABLE. THEY CONTROL MOVIES, THE THEATERS AND MUCH OF THE MEDIA. ANYTHING THEY DO NOT CONTROL OR MAKE IS NOT GOOD… GOD FORBID WE DON;T WATCH THE SAME 10 JEWISH ACTORS THEY CART OUT FOR EVERY MOVIE!!! WAKE UP AMERICA, AND STOP SENDING BILLIONS TO JERUSALEM!!
I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Kevin. Boyle, is not a good film maker, he has made crappy movies like “Trainspotting” which glorifies drug use, obscenity and unnecessary nudity. I have lived in India for 28 years of my life before moving to North America. Sure, there is a lot of poverty and filth in India. Also, there is wealth and glitter which are portrayed in bollywood films. Please, do not expect cesspools in every street corner of India, also if you expect to see kids hanging upside down moving trains to steal a piece of bread, you will be disappointed. There are no game show hosts humiliating participants, atleast none that I have known or heard of. Yes, rags to riches stories are possible everywhere in US and India both. Politicians and police are corrupt. people get tortured, raped, murdered and are considered a common occurence. There is no accountability. The one with most power and money gets away with all kinds of BS. Does all of this sound familiar? yes- it happens everywhere- even in the US. India is definitely third world. The films made in Bollywood provides 3 hours of fantasy for common man who makes less than $100.00 a month.
Back to the movie- Danny Boyle glorifies poverty and filth in the third world with no name actors who would probably find success in movies. is it Oscar worthy , definitely no. Music is good, but that is not all the movie all about, infact I am disappointed that such a talented music director/composer assiciated himself with this movie. Is DB going to make a lot of money, probably yes. Is he going to spend atleast aportion of it to uplift the masses he exploited to make this movie? that is the million dollar question. Why does all western filmmakers exploit the negative in the third world? makes me sick. if you want a reasonable review of SM, please read one at greatbong.net. No it is not my blog, he is not my freind either.
i totally agree with the fact that the movie was simply overhyped……i remember theexcitement b4 watching the movie & the numbness of trying to figure what is going on. Although i liked the way the movie build-up during the first 2-3 situations (especially the answer about the indian god rama), but afterwards it turned into a total mess.
I am a big fan of Boyle, a big fan of almost all cinema, including world cinema, and study film.
I was so exited about this film, the most exited, but if i am honest i am a little disappointed. This film is not that great. its cute, colourful and good on as a surface level mushy love film, it does attempt to show a side of india and its problems. I agree it was a little sloppy, but i get the bollywood homage pop culture, east west mash up.
But this is Boyle, no first time director, a British legend, and whilst it is ambitious, and i’m so glad so many people like it; because film is for the public, not an elite few, I personally was hoping for a something more special and lasting, with a little more depth.
If you’re going to completely trash a movie, I suggest you learn to spell correctly to avoid people like me ripping idiots like a you a new one. You said “The brothers LOOSE track of Latika…” You cannot loosen a track of anything you ignoramus, I believe you meant to say “LOSE track of Latika.” Really? Are you serious? Ignoring the fact that this was a phenomenally filmed and acted movie, you pick out every bad thing you could have, magnified it, blew it out of proportion, and were completely biased throughout the entire article while misspelling commonly used words. I think that you should stop watching/critiquing movies and start reading books, preferably 2nd grade English books that teach seven-year old children how to spell monosyllabic words correctly. I could not have disagreed with you more regarding your excuse for a movie review, and I hope whoever edited that trash (that is, if anyone even bothered to edit it) removes their fat face from the front end of a Starbucks White Mocha Frappuccino and does their job. You, sir, are a waste of life. Good day.
Saw the movie last night and it was a real eye-opener for me. Guess I am a little naive about the extent of poverty and how people live under these awful conditions.
I loved the movie, the story and the actors. I laughed, I cried, I cringed and at the end, I walked happily out of the theatre feeling it was money well spent.
its salim not samir
Ryan, Thank you for the thoughtful review. My main problems with this film were its lack of character development and emphasis on spectacle accompanied by a too-loud music soundtrack.
Amen to your review. AMEN! Concur 100%. So refreshing to have an objective and focused view on purely CINEMATIC considerations. Really appreciate your point of view in a sea of bewildering reviews. Stand firm.
From the looks of what u have written u sound one big pessimistic ass who jus wants to be noticed when the entire world truly believes the other way, feels like u jus want to be negative because u have to be! and after reading it I would want to shove my fist and my foot in both of your orifices on either side of your body. Its jus pity people like u can never see the life beyond your own ass with your nose sticking in it as u even fail to remotely feel for the movies instead of giving technical non emotional detail of the movie for which I guess none of us go for it in the first place! I jus go for a good story, which if u got ur head out of ur ass u would have seen it, that it’s a nice inspiring movie for life and living without violence sex surprisingly it did have it but it didn’t feel that way though it was crystal clear on it and ya crapy pseudo sci-fi themes. A movies which made me feel life and be inspired after a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time! Sorry I guess u still couldn’t see this!
Whoever reviewed this wonderful joyous fantastic film is world class moron. Go get a life Mr. Reviewer. You are worthless — I will never read any thing written by you again. If you sat in the movie theatre and was not able to enjoy this world class movie there is something seriously wrong with you. It is possible that you are a Ted Bundy in disguise. My serious regrets offered to your mother and your wife and children if they are unfortunate enough to have you as the head of the family.
Kevin, not to sound awful, but I feel you’re jaded or losing your focus on your job. It’s like when a painter stares at a painting for too long…. sometimes, you need to walk away from it, and come back to it with fresh eyes.
I saw this movie, because working in a social spot in my town, it’s the only movie people had been talking about through the holidays. It peaked my interest enough to go see it.
It was fantastic. It’s one of those movies I will keep thinking about, long after seeing it, and it’ll be provoking thoughts in my head. Now that’s what good movies are about to me. It seems like most the world agrees.
I agree with every word you wrote! This ” movie” is clearly an attempt by the director to capture that audience demographic that movies are losing to video games. You’re really right about one thing: it’s a mess. And very violent, brutal and depressing as well!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for writing this review. I tried really hard to like Slumdog Millionaire when I saw it just after it opened, but there were just too many glaring problems with it. It seemed very obvious to me that Slumdog Millionaire was a bad movie. I didn’t care about any of the characters, there was little or no character development, the story was too absurd to be taken seriously and the whole thing was cluttered with edgy diagonal shots and choppy editing, which I found completely distracting. Anyway, it just won the Golden Globe for best picture and I was very concerned that no one knew what a good movie was anymore, so I looked all over the internet and couldn’t find any accurate reviews until yours. Thank you for reassuring me that I’m not crazy.
Thank you,
I was seriously disturbed that this won the golden globe for best picture. I agree with all of your criticisms of the movie. I felt that the movie was based on a concept (destiny and transcendental love) that is intrinsically melodramatic and contrived and that in the end, those were the two qualities that the movie expressed. I think that it was creative and ambitious but the lack of character development and serious lack of any romantic development between the leads cost the film. Overall I think it was a decent movie that has been over-hyped and does not deserve to be mentioned as one of the best films of the year.
Finally, someone with sense. I can’t believe the movie is even being considered for an oscar. It was an utterly non-sensical movie with no sense of realism whatsoever. Neither was it the typical Bollywood pot-boiler. The character development was poor to say the least and there was no emotional quotient to the love story. Lesser said about the acting, the better. What the hell was the director trying to convey by portraying a game show host as arrogant and devious? Several scenes are laughable -the rescuing of the girl, finding her in the first place with the help of a blind kid who happens to recognize him from several years before, the shooting scene at the rescue and raping Lathika at such a young age all of them were too incredible to have any credibility.
Only the first 30 minutes of the movie were decent, somewhat realistic and watchable. It is just a movie made by a Westerner for Westerners to feel good about themselves that they have captured the true spirit of India. My foot! Pathetic movie, pathetic attempt. I give a zero just to bring some perspective here. The World runs on hype.
At least get the names of the characters right!
People are hilarious.. Just reading the comments below of people taking this movie personally… Oh just because the reviewer didn’t like the movie, there must be something wrong with him? Get a life folks.
If this was a Bollywood movie, then it would have been a very good movie for the Bollywood standard. However for a movie to be measured on the world stage, it was not very impressive at all.
The story is weak at best with weak characters that I could not connect to or feel empathy for. Towards the end when he’s calling Latika for the 3 musketeer answer, the phone kept ringing and ringing for what must have been 10 or 12 times.. Where was the Voicemail? This movie is almost as weird as croutching tiger hidden dragon. I suppose only certain demographic would “get it”
And isn’t it a depressing reminder of our material society that in order for the happen ending to occur, he must win the 20mil rupees? Why not just hook up with Latika after the show and call it a day?
you are gonna njoy the movie, its such a good entertainer, with a perfect mix of love,thriller,some real life moments.
u will get get the full value for the money u r paying for
im sure u r gonna luv de movie
I dont understand what ‘maturity’ in movie making is all about.
The philosophy of Bollywood is different from Indian cinema as it is
from Hollywood in itself. I saw the film. And I think it contrasts brilliantly
against the patina of Hollywood films that have been churned out against
green screens and prosthetic makeup.
My one worry, is that the marketing should not evangelize the film as a ‘feel-good one’. That’s a sick choice of words.
As a film student, I sometimes wonder if the aesthetics of film making is learned or inborn. For these slumdogs, their hard earned money goes into getting a fix from the mundaneness of their lives, and that fix is cinema. I guess now I realize why they’re so random. And how difficult it must be to make a film based on the suspension of disbelief.
maybe more than the film, its how we view the film?
I just saw this film; mostly because it won the Globe and I really will be shocked (and dismayed) if it wins the Oscar. I thought it was way too long, way too chaotic and way just too much crap. How it won the Globe is beyond me but they tend to make wierd choices sometimes. I think that movies have been getting better of late, but this one doesn’t meet that standard–when will directors/editors stop being afraid to cut cut cut and realize that FEW films can sustain more than 90 minutes? This one may have worked better if they had cut some of it out but as it stands, it is not worthy of all the reviews it seems to be getting.
I find the movie extremely offensive and racist. It shows Indian culture as bankrupt and evil. There isn’t a single good Indian person in that movie. I don’t understand why people are ecstatic after watching this pathetic movie.Do you guys really believe India is such a morally bankrupt society? How come the west likes to see only foreign movies that show abject poverty and misery? This movie is made by a westener for a western audience so that they can feel good about themselves.
You don’t have to be Indian or live in Mumbai to get true enjoyment out of this movie. Do you need to go to the North Pole to know it’s cold? No.
I agree with Kevin - the story is contrived, the performances from the romantic leads is ‘meh’ at best, chemistry is near non-existent. The audience is asked to suspend belief - Salim and Jamal are suddenly fluent in English (how?) and Latika doesn’t seem to be as in love with Jamal as he is with her. She seems to be the helpless damsel, carried along by ‘destiny’ - pass the sick bag! Jamal is emphatic about his feelings; Latika, for her part, does not convince as someone who wants to be reunited with her love. She seems weary and has a general air of ‘Oh, OK then’. Even towards the end, it just didn’t ring true.
Slumdog is a fun, breathless, bombastic film to get carried away with and I liked the narrative device of using Jamal’s trials and tribulations to explain how he knew the answers, even if it all seemed *so* convenient. So sure, enjoy the film for what it is, and I’d recommend it, but it’s not the cure for cancer it’s made out to be.
Oh, and to those critiquing the critic: he’s a critic. That means he criticises films. Which means sitting back and leaving the brain at the door isn’t an option - his role is to have an opinion of the film. And maybe you don’t agree with it, and you don’t have to; but then some of us are more prepared to think about what they see and analyse it a little, rather than let it go in through one ear then out the other!
hey, people who say that this movie is corrupting the slum people if India, open ur god damn eyes. Even though danny boyle’s a westerner, this movie has been made with a sole purpose. This purpose is to show the people who are living in relaxation how people are living in india and how they are suffering. They want westerners, in a way, to help India.
The game show format of the film and flashbacks to poverty, squalor, prostitution and crime did not appeal to me but I saw the film as it was the choice of a film group to which I belong. Kevin Buist’s comments mirror mine exactly. I am baffled by the many accolades the film has received.
Great review Kevin, this is your typical overhyped, play it safe, mediocre movie with a little trainspotting-style edginess sprayed on the surface. My hopes were not high before seeing it as I thought Sunshine was a total mess and the full monty connection compounded this. It really runs out of steam after the third or fourth scenario, the taj mahal section is like something you’d see in a mary kate and ashley vehicle. Thanks for identifying and articulating all the things about this movie that left me shaking my head…oscar schmoscar!
It is weird how personally some people are taking your fair criticism of the film… the level of attack is both telling and comforting. Go Kev!
Your comments scream of fear that bollywood may actually be able to adequately compete with our filmmakers. Transparent at best.
you cudn’t be more wrong kev or what ever ur name is, it’s simply a masterpiece, the movies no one suspects to do well and then do incredible are always the best, the film is something fresh and reminds me a lot of the best selling novel The Kite Runner… so kevin… you stink
Hey Kevin, i think you really hit the nail on the head with that review.
This film could have been soo much better if there was actual chemistry between Jamal and the girl, flims hardly ever get this right — expecting audience to just take it on board when they should be feeling the love between the two– almost as if thier love comes from nowhere!
Its a very enjoyable watch and deserves its praises–
Anil Kapoor was great , amazing screen presence, also the Older Saleem.
Rest were average at best.
i agree with the other commenter’s view that this film is good but it is not the masterpiece, because it is not easy to go in an Indian brothels and rescue a girl specially the rescuer are young boys, it’s isn’t easy to forget the mother and continuously think of the childhood girlfriend, it’s is not that easy to become the gunfighter in India within a minute showing a pistol, if you have seen original version of Indian who wants to be the millionaire than you should know how Mr Amitabh Bachchan behave with his contestants neither in other versions of the show, it isn’t easy to dance in a train station after the death of your brother who saved your life several time and protected you.
i am a great fan of Mr Danny Boyle and i loved his work in this film also of the cinematographer, musician, but the writing part of this movie is not so good, i don’t consider this film to be an eye opener.
Slumdog Millionaire opens the rotten face of India, does it? Does it show the so called “dirty underbelly” of India?
By no means this movie is aimed at showing the chronic poverty of our nation. Many reviewers have criticized this movie for showing only the dirty reality of the country instead of displaying all those swanky buildings, glittering malls etc.
Slumdog Millionaire narrates a story of 2 siblings & a girl, who rise from the dirty slum life and move into different directions of life. The older brother (”Salim“-played by Madhur Mittal) ends up working for a gangster, the girl (”Latika“-played by Frieda Pinto) ends up as a show girl with the same gangsters and the hero of the movie the younger brother (”Jamal“-played by Dev Patel) ends up living a rather straight life as a tea server in a call center. Jamal reaches the “hot seat” of Kaun Banega Crorepati hosted by an arrogant quizmaster Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) who don’t want him to win the game. He calls the police to get Jamal Malik arrested on the charges of fraud at the end of day 1 of the show. At the police station Jamal is tortured first by the sound thrashing from Constable Srinivas (Saurabh Shukla) and then he is subjected to electric shock, all to make him speak about how a tea serving slumdweller can give the correct answers.
The movie revolves around the dingy slums of Dharavi. The heaps and heaps of garbage, dogs with flees, young Jamal jumping in a pit full of shit, hindu-muslim riots, pimps, gangsters, rough language is some of the few characteristics of the film which together with the superb cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle makes it an ultra realistic movie. Kudos to the director Danny Boyle and co-director Loveleen Tandon for the impressive direction and superb camera takes which shows the minutest of the details of the dirty slum life. The screenplay was outstanding.
Acting:If I had to rate the performance of the characters I would surely give a high five to the children artists of the movie. Almost half of the movie shows them and their acting was very natural and realistic. Dev Patel was fine too. Frieda Pinto didn’t had too much of the screen time but delivered good performance. Anil Kapoor was cool. Irrfan Khan as the deadly cop together with Saurabh Shukla gave the top performances together with the child artists. Mahesh Manjrekar was looking a real gangster. He was rough, bad and whatever you may call a gangster. Madhur Mittal as the older brother Salim was quite good.
Sound/Music: Well the music has so many nominations for the Oscars what more can I write!!??!!
The sound effects were superb. The background score was creepy good. “Jai Ho” track comes at the end of the movie. The song is classic but I doubt whether it would take away the oscar. Let’s hope for the best. A.R Rahman proves that he is the best in this field!
The movie has been given an “A” certificate and rightly so. It has some good amount of strong language, violence in the form of riots, torture, a child being blinded with hot syrup (something), murder and other such things happening in the slums. These violent scenes are quite chilling and tense.
Overall I would recommend this movie to every person who has a tag “INDIAN” attached to him/her. A detailed insight into the murky life of slumdwellers.Come on,lets face the truth in the open day light! Slumdog Millionaire is one of those movies which has a happy ending. And out of the 10 oscar nominations it would bag atleast three i.e in “cinematography”, “editing” & for the song “Jai Ho”. It is a perfect edge of the seat thriller wrapped in the ghostly realities of slums.
Hightly recommended.
Thank Maude there are others out there who don’t understand the hype about this movie…I feel like I must have a defect because I thought the movie, while entertaining, was so far from what a Best Picture nominee should be that…um, I have no words:-) My first time visiting your blog, and I agree with your assessment. The weak female characters and lazy love story were particularly dissapointing.
I don’t know why some folks here are so viciously defending the film (and I don’t even know what to say to the all caps anti-semite up there). It’s just an opinion about a movie, people. One I happen to agree with;-)
I don’t know why people argue or get upset how (not) accurately this movie depicts India etc. Hey guys, this is a movie. It is not a documentary or a piece of literature meant to educate about India. Somebody below said, it doesnt show an good part of india etc. Of course this movie is not about good part of India. For that go see something else. The movie is about the story the director wants to say. It is not about the reality of India or how great or how bad India is. There are many movies that shows drug lords and gang wars on US, people don;t say that didn’t show Golden gate bridge or how great the american people really are. Just watch and critic the movie for what it is. BTW, I am an Indian too.
I saw this movie last night and I have to admit I loved it. It wasn’t realistic yes but hey it wasnt meant to be.
Its a diluted version of a Bollywood movie. You probably havent seen any Bollywood movies. They are ALL over the top and unrealistic.
As for the love story, they didnt fall in love cause she was saved by him and he thought she was pretty. They showed you their relationship, mostly when they were kids but when youve been through so much crap and all you have is one best friend who understands you and how you feel and all you have is each other, love is inevitable.
Dev Patel wasnt fantastic but he wasnt crap either I thought he was great for his first movie.
And another thing all the stuff they showed in the movie about the slums, their mother getting killed, the jail torture, the kid being blinded: that’s all real. Actually there are worse things that happen all over the world. That was reality. Reality we never see but its still there. Plus the whole speaking in English thing; I find it ridiculous that people are arguing over how that made the movie unrealistic. Its a MOVIE. In Hollywood/Bollywood people speaking another language fluently just like that IS possible. Calm down. Its not that big a deal. Besides if the whole movie was only hindi/urdu maybe people who dont speak those languages wouldnt have enjoyed it as much.
I speak Urdu myself and being able to understand the kids just added to the experience.
Also it was a feel good movie. It was a fairy tale. Those usually are feel good movies.
First, I am so glad that before I see a movie I make a point of not reading or listening to reviews. Had I read any of this before I saw the movie then I am afraid that I would have missed the movie, as I think Kevin has.
Kevin writes “with the help of inexplicably reformed Samir (sic) she (Latika) escapes the harem to find Jamal”. I wonder how he missed Salim’s story and the explanation of his “transformation”. These are two brothers and Salim is the elder. Jamal, his younger brother who he loves, is like Ferris Bueller: he always wins; he’s like Cain’s brother Abell: he is most favored; and yes he’s like Forrest Gump: his simplicity becomes him and his simplicity becomes millions. Salim reacts badly every time fate shows favor to his brother. But he justifies his actions as deeds of preservation through which he ostensibly saves himself, his brother and Latika.
By the end, with his brother’s impossible drama slowly unfolding before the entire country, Salim is tortured by the reality of his brother’s fate and his undeniable role in it. He “decides” to provide a final answer, to give-in to his brother’s fate and to kill-off the forces that would dare intervene.
I don’t know if this film does justice to India or Indians. And its not that I don’t care, its that I think its a different question than whether the story is coherent or plausible as fiction. I loved it as a story. I followed it. I was among those who diddn’t want to leave my seat as it transitioned from story to dance. For me, the story hit all cylinders, the film touched all senses. I am learning as I read what people say about whether it accurately reflects India. But as a story about brothers and siblings and love and fate, I found it to be rich, the best surprise I have had in the movie theatre in 20 years.
THANK YOU!!! I SO wanted to like this movie, and was excited to see it. In the theater I found myself fidgeting and rolling my eyes toward the end, and couldn’t wait for it to be over. To my surprise, nearly everyone else in the audience sat glued to their seats for the credits. Now, after all the awards and accolades, I was thinking that maybe I needed to see it a second time - maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind the first time - I was clearly missing something, and was definitely alone in thinking it just wasn’t very good. THANK YOU for echoing everything I thought about the film. Now I don’t feel crazy, and can hope that the next “big thing” out of India is closer in quality to “Monsoon Wedding” rather than “Slumdog”.
hey very cool review, kevin… as an indian, mumbai-ite, and above all, film buff, i (and believe me) plenty others, are bewildered with the hype around slumdog… its the very anti-thesis of gritty, in fact its very contrived, and even if u compare with some of the more telling recent efforts from Bollywood even (check out Aamir, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Metro, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Black Friday, and the list goes on), it comes up way short, almost a picture postcard version of gritty… I mean, you want grit, ask a Rio-ite about City of God. Slumdog is really namby-pamby shi**, pardon me Mr. Boyle. And this is coming from an ardent fan, who loved Boyle’s Trainspotting and Shallow Grave… The Beach onwards, r. Boyle has lost the plot though… and no matter how ;charming’ the stringers around the world claim Slumdog to be, it remains a flimsy effort, and indeed, will be a pity if it becomes representative of a gritty Mumbai film, as it is being billed (perhaps its no coincidence that Celador, the Millionair producers, also happened to produce the movie)…
There’s gritty movies, and then there’s gritty movies. Slumdog is, unfortunately, neither…
I tried to watch the movie…….. I eventually walked out.
Kevin, This is one of the best written reviews of this movie.. bein in india i myself dont relate to the movie tht well.. yes, i am aware of all the atrocities that take place in the city but hav also seen movies that capture them better than this one has.. theyve jus made an attempt to make a “different movie” to win awards.. Maybe they shud start lookin at some really good indian movies that are made even in regional languages that beat this any day…
you are a Jealousdog to criticize Slumdog
THANK YOU! i totally agree with you…i went and saw this with my parents, my dad thought it would be amazing like the namesake instead he complained it was worse than the bollywood movies, my mom who LOVES bollywood movies left early and said it was boring and the characters did nothing for her! i thought it was a waste of time and only enjoyed the little boy who played jamal. being indian myself i think non desi people loved this movie because they “love” the indian culture and let’s put on henna and wear indian jewelry is the cool thing to do!
Scenes of poverty and squalour may appear romantic to Westerners and to our snooty elite but for ordinary Indians they are an everyday reality. One wonders what sort of mind can find such images aesthetically pleasing. Party-hopping socialites (for example, Shobhaa De after all her bombast of “enough is enough”, went and watched a pirated copy!) who are distanced from such reality may find this film an “eye-opener” but for us it IS just poverty-porn. Leaving that aside, I have six other objections to the film.
1) The director seems to RELISH showing violence. Some of it (like the police-torture) is quite needless. And why was the boy arrested in the first place? On what charge? Was it realistic?
2) How can a boy growing up in slums speak such accented English? Even if one assumes that the language he actually uses to communicate with the game-show host and the police officer is Hindi (granting the director the creative license to use a language better suited for international audiences), there are 2 instances where it is stretched too far: (a) when the boy becomes a ‘guide’ for foreign tourists at the Taj Mahal & (b) when he becomes a substitute-operator at the call-centre.
3) When the boy uses his ‘lifeline’ during the game-show, his friend discovers that she has forgotten her mobile and has to run back for it. This is plain Bollywood masala! Did the director HAVE to make it so melodramatic?
4) How did the boy know who invented the revolver just by watching his brother use it?
5) “Darshan Do Ghanshyam” is NOT written by Surdas. It is written by Gopal Singh Nepali for the movie Narsi Bhagat (1957). This song is also credited as traditional and originally written by 15th century poet Narsi Mehta, whose life that film is based on.
6) The greatest flaw in the storyline is that programmes like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ are NOT telecast live. As a result the entire structure of the film becomes unrealistic. For a film that boasts of being realistic such a flaw cannot be overlooked.
Thank you for being brave enough to state the truth! I could not agree more with your review and wish I had seen it BEFORE I saw the movie!
Scenes of poverty and squalour may appear romantic to Westerners and to our snooty elite but for us ordinary Indians they are nothing new. They are an everyday reality. However, one wonders what sort of mind can find such images aesthetically pleasing. Party-hopping socialites (for example, Shobhaa De after all her bombast of “enough is enough” after the Mumbai attack, went and watched a pirated copy!) who are distanced from such reality may find this film an “eye-opener” but for us it IS poverty-porn. It IS slum-tourism. Leaving that aside, I have eight other objections to the film.
And of course the greatest flaw in the storyline: programmes like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ are NOT telecast live. As a result the entire structure of the film becomes unrealistic. For a film that boasts of being realistic such a flaw cannot be overlooked.
1) The director seems to RELISH showing violence. Some of it (like the police-torture) is quite needless. And why was the boy arrested in the first place? On what charge? Was it realistic?
2) How can a boy growing up in slums speak such accented English? Even if one assumes that the language he actually uses to communicate with the game-show host and the police officer is Hindi (granting the director the creative license to use a language better suited for international audiences), there are 2 instances where it is stretched too far: (a) when the boy becomes a ‘guide’ for foreign tourists at the Taj Mahal & (b) when he becomes a substitute-operator at the call-centre.
3) When the boy uses his ‘lifeline’ during the game-show, his friend discovers that she has forgotten her mobile and has to run back for it. This is plain Bollywood masala! Did the director HAVE to make it so melodramatic?
4) How did the boy know who invented the revolver just by watching his brother use it?
How does his friend know about Benjamin Franklin (something which many Americans themselves don’t know!)?
5) “Darshan Do Ghanshyam” is NOT written by Surdas. It is written by Gopal Singh Nepali for the movie Narsi Bhagat (1957). This song is also credited as traditional and originally written by 15th century poet Narsi Mehta, whose life that film is based on.
6) After winning the game-show, the boy sits on the railway platform and nobody recognizes him! Considering the popularity of the show, is that realistic?
7) Two glaring omissions: To get invited to the show one has to answer several GK questions over phone or Internet. Even after making it to the show, a contestant can reach the hot-seat only after qualifying through “fastest finger first”. All this is conveniently forgotten in the film.
Anyone else wants to say this is a g-r-e-a-t film despite all these flaws?
This film irritated me, reminded me of my reaction to Kim Jee-Woon’s “The Good, The Bad and The Weird”: lots of production value and slick visuals but very short on character and acting, fairly silly storyline, not much humor. Even take-offs and parodies need to hold up with good acting, script and chemistry. This looked like a Bollywood takeoff without the good music and dance, or big personalities, mixed with some English social realism without the grit and tense action. Result is a pretty insipid fusion that looks like a two-hour demo reel for a TV commercial. What’s the product being sold here? Globalized shallowness?
since you don’t even know the MAIN characters name….I have a hard time taking your review seriously. How anyone can watch that movie and then not even know their names tells me you really didn’t watch the movie. the boys names are Jamal and Salim. really now….did you even watch this movie before writing the review?
[...] this: But ultimately it’s an annoying cacophony atop a predictable structure. Darling, let’s see [...]
I cannot believe someone will call you a movie reviewer. It is apparent that you have no knowledge or what people like and have absolutely no clue about movies.
This movie is a sad movie but a fantastic one. I wish it could only be a movie, but it is a true everyday life of many people.
Yes I would reperat what Ryan wrote:
Kevin, you clearly don’t seem to have any clue about india or in particular, mumbai.. you need to get of your air-conditioned office… take a week long trip to mumbai and then watch the movie again.
Besides, I would wait when an Indian director makes a movie on UK or US showing the s**t that goes down here.
you are an idiot. stop reviewing movies and go bitch at a cause that is noble.
Thank you for standing up to the hype and using some brainpower to analyze this incredibly flawed and ultimately mediocre film.
I know we (the audience) are supposed to get swept up in the wonderment of hope and suspension of belief in the face of a slumdog beating all odds, but I felt patronized by the excessive flashbacks (yes, I remember that scene from 5 minutes ago!) and the fact that the game show questions went in chronological order of his life. As Gob from Arrested Development says: “Come on!”
9 British BAFTA’s has to account for something.
I agree withmuch of your review. It was, literally and figuratively, the shittiest movie I ever started to watch. I walked out when they started mutilating children.
I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinions, but in my opinion, kevins’ opinion stinks. No offense there Kevin, but I did very much so, enjoy the movie. Everyone out there should check it out for themselves. Go to movie tickets dot com and you’ll see a 93 percent approval rating. At least when I checked, some 598 out of 630 something really like the movie.
IN YOUR FACE!
JAI HO”
Thank goodness someone talks with a certain degree of knowledge about this pathetic piece of…. well, whatever. Not in a GAZILLION years would I believe this film is a “sleeper”. More likely, it is (once again) pure and simple marketing of the best sorts. Paternalistic, ethically questionnable in employing the work of Indian children for peanuts, and sloppy filmaking as a whole which has been surprisingly awarded 8 (eight!!!!!) Academy awards. The film/making is so “modernesque” and the storyline so unbelievably pathetic, I am utterly surprised anyone with a minimum sense of artistry can consider this a good (let alone magnificent) movie.
By the way, for those who enjoy true filmaking, the best movie about life in the Bombay slums was already filmed years ago. It is called Salaam Bombay and we owe it to Indian director Mira Nair.
Greetings from Spain.
Now that they have taken our oscar, will they give us back our jobs?
I agree with you 1000%. You can’t just assume the audience is going to suspend disbelief because you say, “IT’S DESTINY. PLEASE SUSPEND YOUR DISBELIEF NOW.” At least TRY to earn it.
people people people. i agree with him. Even though the movie won 8 oscars, it is not that great. i will admit, it is not terrible. but it is not good either! plus, everyone can have their own opinion.
This movie was terrible. One of the worst shows I’ve seen this past year. I would rather see “A year of living dangerously” (my previously worst film) ten times back to back before watching Slumdog again. I guess it appealed to the audience it wanted to - the 1out of 100 liberal, anti-American, foreign loving folks who go to the movies.
So what do you think now?
Those who are insulting kevin for expressing his opinion, which I happen to agree with, are idiots at best.
I couldn’t sit through this movie without feeling this was some wacked documentary on the slums of india. Real? yes. Things I want to see? Not really.
The fact it won 8 oscars makes me realize why “movies” like knocked up got such high ratings. I frankly don’t like this movie regardless of the cute love story because it was crude. And if you don’t share my opinion so be it. don’t be such an arse.
You are a pathetic excuse for a movie critic. Dev Patel’s performance was extremely sincere and moving. And the fact that Jamal, a slumdog, goes on a game show to win the girl of dreams is reason enough to love him. Also, the cacophony isn’t annoying; it builds suspense. It is a rare occurrence when a movie as well made as Slumdog Millionaire comes out. It had all the fun of a Bollywood movie, but with the substance of a modern drama.
“the 1out of 100 liberal, anti-American, foreign loving folks who go to the movies.”
Well Mr. Rick, I happen to be not liberal, but a leftist progressive, and I thought the movie was pathetic. As for anti-American, hell, I dunno! Does being European have anything to do with not liking the movie?
Oh. And I go to the movies 2-3 times a week. At least here in Europe I get to watch all kinds of movies, not just what Hollywood tells me to watch.
Why every one have to arguing, why not just download it for free,
here is the link : http://the-warezblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/slumdog-millionare-free-movie-download.html
Absolute rubbish. Watched it after being recommended by collegues. . Drivel. And I agree with all the original reviewer said. But the following review says everything and more I would like to say about the film in a way that I could never articulate as well:
SLUMDOG IS F’ING TERRIBLE@
“But Jamal, what will we live on?” “Love.” (No, really. That’s an actual exchange from the movie.)
It’s a good thing Slumdog Millionaire is set in India, otherwise more people might notice what a wildly implausible, hokey, cornball cartoon it is. The scenery is nice, but the story is pointless unless you desperately needed to hear that LOVE CONQUERS ALL and YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW YOUR DESTINY, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, IT’S YOUR DESTINY. It’s the kind of feel-good garbage that only feels good if you check your brain at the door, a candy apple filled with shit.
Here’s the plot: Jamal Malik is one question away from winning the grand prize on the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, an unprecedented feat. When we catch up with him, he’s in the proverbial back room getting worked over by some guys who want to know how a slum orphan with no education can succeed where doctors, lawyers, and professors have all failed. The answer should be obvious: Because he’s in a stupid f-cking movie (they think he’s cheating). They slap, punch, and electrocute him, which will become a metaphor for the way the filmmakers treat their audience. Who do these guys work for? The police? The show? Why would they want Jamal to fail? It doesn’t matter, they’re bad guys. Everyone in Slumdog Millionaire is either a good guy or a bad guy and there’s no room for grey area or, God forbid, motivation.
Eventually Jamal and his inquisitors go to the tape. They watch Jamal answer the first question, and when they ask how a slumdog like him could’ve known such a thing, we flash back to a traumatic childhood memory in which he painfully learns the answer. This becomes the framework of the entire movie. The hosts asks “Who invented the revolver?” and we flash back to the time when Jamal sees someone killed with a revolver. Besides the structure being corny and repetitive, the events in the flashbacks rarely show how Jamal actually would’ve learned the answers to the questions. Anyone who’s ever fired a revolver knows it shoots bullets, not a giant flag that says, “INVENTED BY SAMUEL COLT IN 1836.” And anyway, what’s the point of this plot device? It offers no more insight than you’d get singing along to Sexy and 17 by the Stray Cats – THERE AIN’T NOTHIN IN SCHOOL THEY DON’T TEACH YOU ON THE STREETS! OH WHOA OH OH OH (FAP FAP FAPPITY FAP FAP). (Great song, btw)
But it doesn’t matter, because winning Millionaire is Jamal’s destiny, you see. The only reason he’s on the show in the first place is to get the attention of Latika, the woman he loves. A fellow orphan, he meets her in a rainstorm when he’s about 8 right after his mother gets killed. And from then on, she’s all he cares about. Why? Again, because it’s a movie. Because in a movie, characters fall in love with the first girl they see and never deviate. Destiny and true love are much easier to write than ways in which two people might conceivably relate. The rest of the movie is just a series of contrived reunions and separations. Jamal gets kidnapped by a guy who blinds orphans with acid to make them better beggars! Latika gets sold into prostitution! Latika’s forced to marry an evil gangster! What, no black market organ harvesters? The slums are filled with good and evil, you see, and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN BETWEEN. I would’ve liked to have just gone with the flow, but unfortunately there were no blunt objects under the seat with which to bludgeon myself.
But back to Jamal. He goes on Hindi Millionaire to meet a girl. Okay, fine. He knows all the answers based on lessons learned in the streets. Hmm, that’s a little ridiculous, but okay, I guess someone has to win the lottery. But wait, how did he get on the show in the first place? Considering he’s only one of roughly 8 bajillion people living in India, Jamal making it on the show would seem to be the most dubious plot point, wouldn’t it? Something you’d want to create a plausible explanation for, right? About two thirds of the way into the film, the host finally asks what any intelligent audience member should’ve been thinking, “So, how did a little slumdog like yourself get to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, anyway?” This triggers a flashback to Jamal working as an assistant at a call center. Every night, the callers call the Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant line. And then… that’s it! That’s the entire explanation. Nevermind that the callers we see call never get through, never mind that Jamal is only an assistant who doesn’t even man the phones himself - it was his destiny! Because he was in love! Slumdog Millionaire’s turning points only give you the most half-assed, token explanations because they seem to figure that if they throw enough true love wheels of fate mumbo jumbo at you, you’ll be happy to suspend your disbelief long enough to see two wooden caricatures kiss. It’s cotton candy. Slumdog Millionaire is Love Actually with Indian people. I hated it and I hate all of you.
Grade: D+
*(also my apologies for not knowing the source or name of this reviewer.)
i’ve just watched the movie and i am very speechless. The movie was incredible! I’d give a lot of credit to the child actors who portrayed in jamal’s flashbacks. Reading this review quite disappoints me. on how i really appreciated the film. But, every one has different points of view. so why blame the writer of this review. The movie setting may look like a total mess but we have to face the truth that not all the corners of the world particularly Asia is at its best features. Poverty really is a big problem in most nations. This movie is just an eye opener on how “REALITY” is to be portrayed. One should try living in the slums for a month or two to know how life really is for them.
Why not people make films on rich & dirty and why only poor and deprived are ridiculed and made fun of… Why there is not a single moview called “Page 3 Pigs of Delhi”?
i like some indian films but I don’t like this movie either. it didn’ t live up to the hype. i found that hollywood (and hope not bollywood) usually is cater to political wind.
Thank you, SOMEONE out there who has a grasp on movies and how to review them for what they are, a most notable review on your part. Thank you for the heads up, I will take everything you said into consideration when I review this movie for myself. Keep up the honest reviewing, there are not many who know what a genuinely good movie is anymore.
-Jash
the person who wrote the commen below, NP, i too am an indian, from india, yes if what you are trying to say is that it stereotyped the characters, yes it did, but so what it was a movie, and there was so much truth in it. Please remember it was a movie, so things get exagerrated but the movie did well and a lot of it is very evident of what goes on. so stop pretending you know so much just because you traveled to india.
I so totally agree with the “anonymous” review Dan posted, and I’d like to add some more objections to Sambit’s believability list (by the way, Sambit, “poverty-porn” is spot-on!) before turning to a much darker objection (literally as well):
-Where and how has Latika learned how to drive on her way to freedom??? For God’s sake, she practically kept hostage by her evil husband’s villains.
- How could Jamal pull off the ridiculous cook/dishwasher trick and prepare a killer sandwich without being eaten alive by this same husband.
-The bandits could easily have Latikha’s mobile traced by some corrupt police service + if they managed to capture her in Victoria Station first time around, why not the second time (when the station was deserted – for no apparent reason, maybe because everyone in the city was out partying because Jamal won the big prize. But then:
- How on earth could Jamal ever make it to Victoria station in time after the show, without being ripped to pieces by an over-excited crowd?
- How could Jamal suddenly turn into a sort of computer whizz kid with the ability to master search engines, fluent typing and all… (but not know who’s on the back of a 1000 roupie note).
-t’s completely ridiculous that the main player and the TV show host can take a pee together and chat a little before, especially because the show is allegedly chanelled live. Normally they would glue the contestant to his seat…
etc…etc…
Ok, and here most people will object by saying: don’t judge the movie on its level of reality /believability but on its “truthfulness”.
But then I have another remark about a darker truth, and here we have to dive a little deeper into our Western mindset (considering that this movie was especially conceived to be a Western crowd-pleaser. And it’s a very worrying one: the choice of the actors. Those cute little slum actors with their very natural Indian appeal (and bafflingly natural and very convincing at that!) gradually turn into their adult self. And here, their changing complexions are really telling: Jamal and Lathika (Freida Pinto with ancestors probably of Portuguese background) are almost surreally whitewashed, Michael Jackson-style, whereas Salim is just that little bit darker, and doesn’t he turn out to be the bad guy… (up to his unbelievable conversion). Now that really stinks! But hey, how else are you going to please your average white moviegoer. Serve him coffee, yes, but first pour an awful lot of milk into it.
ok you dont know the indian culture first of all. when you claimed “if a fireman saved my life, it doesnt mean i would marry him” pretty much shows you dont know indian culture. this is something that is lacked in america and every other white country. they love each other, it should be plain and simple. they went through everything. my parents been married 45 years. ive never ever seen them argue over anything. they are indian. they agree to everything. and one doesnt agree, they both cant agree. its weird. but this is something you cant understand. marriage is very sacred there. since you’ve probably never seen it here, doesnt mean your theories work the same way there.
oh and by the way, the ending dance scene is an important to the movie. not because of bollywood, its because after the child became blind jamal was next. before the situation, he told latika that he was going to be rich one day and both of them were going to sing and dance together.
this review is from an idiot that only believes in the world he lives in.
no wonder this idiot wont find true love. he doesnt believe it.
I don’t know if it is your strategy to pull off people to your blog by means of giving wrong criticism… But only those who watch and understand the movie well can give reviews and criticism…. Where do you go to collage??
what is the name of the song that the blind boy sings in slumdog millionaire
Agree completely with this review. I don’t understand all the uproar that your review has generated - a lot of people are stupid I guess.
it was a dumb movie. some idiot without any formal education ends up winning the “who wants to be a millionaire” contest… so stupid. and the actor who plays this looks like a electric pole… just a funny looking idiot. and then there is the chick who plays in this movie. she gets to act in a small role and that too a hooker, and now she is the highest paid actress in india. WOW .. what has our country come to?
Could not agree more with this review. And I a huge (former) Danny Boyle fan and a fan of Indian culture, this movie was a huge disappointment. I was looking online (finally) to see if maybe there is some other intelligent lifeforms out there. Thanks Kevin.
My friend,you are jackass. What world are you living in?
Wow! Just watched this very hyped film and I was looking for someone to make me feel like I wasn’t insane for thinking that it was very average. I couldn’t agree more or have said it better then this review by Mr. Buist. I think that he is right on and I am shocked that more don’t see it that way!
ok, so how is it then, if this movie is so bad that it has done so well? the fact is the film is good, it is well acted and it is perfectally fine. oh, and you obviously didnt pay much attention when watching the film because the boys names are Jamal and Salim, not Jamal and Samir!?
So the only way to get ahead in India is to gamble, what a great culture. Running Man was suppose to be a dystopia, but apparently this type of upward mobility in India is acceptable to us Westerners as long as we get to exploit them as cheap foreign labor. Man isn’t free trade great, we get to be the slave masters without chains or whips.
Go Pat Go.
This is what I felt all through the movie Kevin, How can he goes from
those horrible tortures , back to the stage,
like nothing happen?
and what about the kid having his eyes taken out with a spoon?
for pure sensationalism I think?
You hit it right on the nose!!! MESSY!!!!