(The second review of four movies that I saw at the AMC Best Picture Showcase)
I don’t know if it was the long day of movies all back-to-back, the amped up expectations I had due to numerous people (including my pastor) recommending it to me, the knowledge that it was probably going to win the Best Picture award anyway, but whatever it was, it lead me to a “it was good” opinion of Slumdog Millionaire. It wasn’t great, but it was good.
I didn’t leave the theater thinking I had just seen one of the most redemptive movies of our time, as so many people have called it, I left thinking that Danny Boyle did a heck of a job turning, what I’m sure was a laughable script at first, into a powerful story of a family’s struggle to rise out of the slums of India.
Listen, I liked the movie. I enjoyed the story. Better yet, I actually thought the kid actors playing Jamal, Salim, and Latika outshined their older counterparts. I loved the innocence of the two boys as they wander about the slums of Mumbai, combined with their very real and very adult-like surroundings and hardships. I thought it was a brillaint move by Boyle to show us the tyranny and the religious persecution and the starvation all through the eyes of these two boys. To me, those were some of the most poignant scenes, to watch them get so excited about a Bollywood movie star that they would be willing to crawl through poop.
But, the problem I had with the film was the fact that this entire story, a story about the boys and Latika trying to escape persecution and child trafficking that was around every corner, was built around the stupid game show. I know, many people will claim “genius” on the part of the screenwriter, weaving a story of flashbacks and turmoil, death, destruction, child-slavery, around a Who Wants To Be a Millionaire game show, but to me, I say trite. I didn’t believe it. First of all, when Jamal flashes back to his time as a call-center assistant after being asked how he even got onto the show, it never resolves it. We never find out HOW he got on the show. That was a big oversight, and in my opinion, just the tip of the iceberg regarding the inclusion of the game show as a central plot theme.
Watching Jamal and Salim grow up in the slums, watching them learn how to depend and trust in each other, watching Salim risk his life to save Jamal time and time again, watching the love develop between Jamal and Latika, all of it was beautiful, it was inspiring. If that’s the movie, then this review would have a different tone…BUT, the inclusion of the silly game show was, in my opinion, a cheap trick. Why did they have to include it? Take away the title, and make this story about the characters ALONE, don’t make it about the characters AND the game show, it doesn’t work.
I want you to hear me clear. I liked this movie. I thought it was a really good film. Did it deserve Best Picture? No. Did I ever think it wouldn’t get it? No. Like I said in the beginning, I don’t know exactly what lead me, before I saw the film, to expecting something totally different. I am willing to give this another shot later on down the road, once the Oscar buzz has gone down, and in fact, I’ll probably watch it with my wife and see if I come away with a different opinion, but bottom line, I was underwhelmed.
Content Warning: Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language. It’s intense. There is child trafficking, prostitution, drugs, and it’s disturbing to watch how they treat kids.
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Donna
We were thinking on going to see this movie this past weekend due to its Oscar winning performance. But I told my hubby that I wanted to wait to see what TOC’s opinion was on it before we went. I like how you have prepared us for it..thank for the great review!!
March 3, 2009 at 9:10 am
Ebrahim Kabir
Worth every penny and a good film.
March 3, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Troy Sims
I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was a great love story. And come to think of it. To me the gameshow part didn’t really add to it, but didn’t necessarily take away from it either. And I did notice the same thing Dan, that it wasn’t explained about how he got on the show. Other than that I thought it was a great movie.
March 4, 2009 at 9:15 am
Tony Rippa
All these folks who say it’s not realistic are right, and that’s what makes it a great movie. Like someone in the film even asked, “why do people like this show?”(referring to the game show – WWTBAM), and the response is, well, it’s an escape. And that’s what this movie is – damn good escapism from the reality of Mumbai street life, and our own lives. In that sense, it joins the genre of great “feel good” movies which attempt to take us in ever-unrealistic ways from harsh reality, much like ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’ I’ve noticed that most critics who don’t like the film as much as anyone else are still giving it three stars out of four. In other words, good, just not great. But then look at what they do rate as great – films like Revolutionary Road, The Reader, In The Bedroom, Brokeback Mountain etc – films which, sure are grim, depressing and realistic, but damn – that’s really not why most of us go the movies. We don’t want to think, we want to feel, and Slumdog makes us feel great about life in spite of its hardships. Now that’s good film making.
March 13, 2009 at 4:45 pm