Amazon.com:A mumbai teen who grew up in the slums becomes a contestant on the indian version of who wants to be a millionaire?. He is arrested for cheating & while being interrogated events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.
Someone in the movie calls Jamal's story "bizarrely plausible" and I would have to agree. The story is basically structured in a way that if one thing had happened differently in Jamal's life he wouldn't have be able to answer all the questions on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. While nothing in life ever works like that I think it made a really nice story.
Basically the movie was exactly what I thought it would be. It was good but I wouldn't call it great. I heard from tons of people how wonderful it was but also from a few friends (who have similar tastes) who said it was good but not THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME, and I would have to agree with them. While I liked the movie I think The Curious Case of Benjamin Button should have gone home with the Oscar, that movie blew me away.
While I liked the structure of the story I did have problems with it. I liked the relationship between Jamal and Latika but felt when they met up towards the end of the movie we should have seen some more proof of their chemistry, I wasn't totally convinced. And the ending, the actual ending (with illustrated credits etc) that totally changed the mood of the movie and I thought was a bit uncalled for.
Slumdog Millionaire was a good movie but not really as emotionally empactful as other movies I'v seen. A lot of people are commenting on how hard some of the scenes were to watch, I was waiting for it to rise above movies like The Kite Runner, City of God, and Tsotsi, compared to those movies Slumddog Millionaire was a cake walk to watch. Also, I was disappointed that it was mostly in English. I know I'm coming off as a total film snob, sorry. I really felt the need to nitpick this one. But don't get me wrong I did enjoy and like the movie!
All in all, a good but not great movie with an interesting premise.
4/5 Stars
My dad bought, and I watched
Slumdog Millionaire was released on dvd March 31st.
I pretty much agree with you. I thought this was a wonderful movie, but the best movie of 2008? Eh. I thought Doubt and Gran Torino were both better. I just never really got caught up in Slumdog Millionaire. Like I could get how it might disturb people, but it didn't shake me up at all.
ReplyDeleteI really do want to see this at some point. I think it sounds good. I want to read the book at some point though.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
I didn't really know a lot about the story before watching it -I had just heard it was really good and it was only $1 in the red box- but I thought it was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI saw this one in the theater and really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure it was the best movie of the year.
ReplyDeleteStill haven't seen this one. I do adore A R Rahman's composing though; the soundtrack to Slumdog is amazing! He's kind of the Mozart of Indian music...at any rate, it is on my list to read AND to watch!
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
I loved this movie!!! ..and the book too hehe
ReplyDeleteAre you going to read the book that the movie was loosely based on now?
ReplyDeleteThis sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteI just watched this movie and blogged about it ( http://enbuscadeequilibrio.blogspot.com/2009/04/slumdog-millionaire.html ) this weekend. I really loved it. I did think that the dance while the credits were rolling did completely change the mood and thought it was a bit odd (especially since Jamal had been so serious the whole movie), but I still enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched this movie but I do own it. It just doesn't call to me. I dunno. I might watch it in the future or something.
ReplyDeleteLove all this honest talk about Slumdog. I did, in the end, want to dance. But I think some of that had to do with the fact that I didn't want to dance in many other places of the film. The acting, I thought, was wonderful. A very good point about the chemistry.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's seen this but me! I really rent it. If I have enough quarters left after the school's book sale, I'll go rent it. :P
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this and to tell you the truth wasn't really planning on it either. But with all the hubub going on about how great it is I think I might sit down and rent it and see what's up.
ReplyDeleteP.S. An award is waiting for you here:
http://creativitygone.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-126-friendly-splash.html
Well as I posted, I thought it was all a bit cheesy. A nice movie, but not really Best Picture worthy. But I'm okay that it won, you know?
ReplyDeleteMy hubby and I really need to watch this one. I bought it when it came out, we just haven't gotten around to it yet!
ReplyDeleteMadison- I just saw Doubt, I was hoping for more from it. After watching it I said to my friend, this totally was a play first and then I discovered I was right. Hehe.
ReplyDeleteLiterary Feline- Maybe eventually!
Mrs. V- Yeah it was just sort of a strange way to end it.
Thanks for the great comments everyone!
I ADORED this movie! I thought the relationship between Jamal and Latika was just beautiful. Overall, I thought it was extraordinarily emotional!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't call it the best movie of all time, either, but I did think it was great.
We really do just disagree about movies, don't we?