The Millionaire

This is a somewhat predictable but lovely film which combines an honest look at poverty in India with one of the best love stories in recent years.

Jamal who wants to find his long lost love Latika, goes on a game show called "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". After he's suspected of cheating, he's interrogated and he starts to explain how he knew all the answers.

To say that this is expertly shot would be an understatement. It would be nearly impossible for another movie to win "Best Picture" over it. Every shot is amazing and not a single one seems worse than the last.

The clever structure of the film uses the backstory to explain how he knew each of the answers to show what life is like for much of India's population. Even some of the more disturbing things that go on are detailed very well in the movie.

The actors all did a great job. Especially the younger cast which is rather surprising considering that this is their first time acting for many of them. They acted well and I was sold in the first 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, the film's strength falters near the end. Blaming plot contrivances on "fate" seemed lazy and the happy ending felt a bit hollow to me. But besides this, this is still a powerful and moving film which will entertain you all throughout it.

This is a great movie. It has great acting and it was expertly shot. The movie details violence well and it's handled greatly too. This is Danny Boyle's best movie since Sunshine and Trainspotting.

Danny Boyle has come up with some interesting cinema, certainly defining himself as someone above average. What he achieves in "Slumdog Millionaire" is transcend the line between inspiration and a miracle, awakening an emotional connection to the very special element great cinema can deliver. The packages might have changed, and the contents are more controversial and maybe a bit more tied to reality, certainly taking us to an exotic local, teaching us that our world extends beyond our freeway and limited perception of how more than the other half of the world's population has to deal without certainly preaching to us.

The tale of two brothers' lives is told to us through episodic flashbacks tied to an episode of India's "Who Wants to be a millionaire?". At first, the story introduces one of the brothers as being the subject of a very strong interrogation to find out whether he is being truthful about some knowledge that might be relevant to the game. As he answers the questions, we discover that this young man's life story might be more interesting than we originally expected.

There is an element of freshness in the way the story is presented, as we accompany Jamal through his life odyssey from a young child in the slums to a man who is determined to save those he loves. There are some strong emotions in the film, and Boyle's direction keeps the film dynamic and engaging.

Prepare yourself to be overtaken by emotions as varied as joy, pity, happiness, anger, revulsion, surprise, and an exhilarating conclusion rarely seen in movies anymore. This film has made me grateful to be alive and that we still have people in cinema like Boyle who understands the power and beauty of the medium. He knows that the perfect mix of a great story and the respective imagery can provoke unforgettable memories in its audience.

I thought the best part of this movie was the photography. Check this film out on Blu-Ray, if you have the opportunity: it's magnificent-looking. They even make slums look beautiful! I'm glad it won the Oscar for cinematography. Scene after scene is gorgeous.

Story-wise, it's okay; good, but nothing super. For the first half of the film, it reminded me of "City Of God," about the homeless kids in Brazil, but that film had far more violent kids. This one mainly had kids as pranksters and then victims of some sicko adult who wants to use them to make money.

The story will be fun for those who used to be hooked on the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" quiz show, but the host here in this Indian version is no lovable Regis Philbin. You won't like him.

Almost all of the story is told in flashback, so be prepared for that. It's one of those stories where all the little pieces fit together in the end to explain why things happened in the start of the film.

I wouldn't have voted for this as the Best Picture Of The Year but it is entertaining and a feast for the eyes.

I FULLY AGREE that it is a good movie, no doubt about it, but it is highly overrated. If u people like this, there are 100s of other Indian Movies that are made much better than this(Both old and NEW). As for Rahman's music, it is GREAT (again no doubt). But this is definitely not his best. Pls go hear "dil se" and u'll know what i am talking about! Compare this movie to previous Oscar winners like American beauty, and well, u'll know wat i mean.

Verdict : To everyone who has still not seen the film, It's definitely a one time watch. Good music,Good story and Good (kind hearted if i may add) cast and crew. But i request you to watch it with an open mind. And by the way, Mumbai is not just a "slum area". :-)

Slumdog Millionaire is one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2008 but the hype surrounding it is a bit undeserved. Don't get me wrong, this is at the very least a good movie and is quite a terrific movie 2/3 the way through. What the movie does though in the last 1/3 is make the fatal mistake of turning into a Hollywood or maybe in this case a Bollywood movie. It takes away from that genuine and satisfying feeling.

The acting all around was very good particularly from Dev Patel and the small kids. There performance are probably the only thing that is overlooked in this film. Without much of these very good performances the movie would not have been at the level it was at.The directing of Danny Boyle was his best yet. The look of the film was amazing and many screen shots of India were breathtaking. The musical score was very fitting to the style of the movie. It was one of the best scores of 2008. Where this film fell apart was at the writing. Towards the end its withdrew into a standard romance. It was no longer the great and amazing adventure we had witnessed for most of the movie. The complex relations seemed to be over simplified and it does the safe thing to do in the approach of tone but if taken into a drastically different direction could have lead it to be a real classic. Yet instead of ever peaking or sky rocketing to greatness it had plateaued and didn't deliver the way I had hoped it would, this largely in part by the failure of the screenplay.

Many people have compared this film to City of God because the film are actually similar in many ways. Yet City of God has something Slumdog Millionaire does not have which is depth and character motivations. These things are vital to these kind of movies being successful. City of God seemed to have a more plausible story because the story was more linear. Events took place as a result of other events. This did not happen in Slumdog Millionaire, the story was more chopped up and too many of the events just seemed to pop up out of no where. Slumdog Millionaire did take a very ambitious approach in the way it was made which is commendable. Is this a 1st rate movie though? The answer to that is no.