REVIEW: Slumdog Millionaire

It's hard not to start this review off by citing the overwhelming love this movie is feeling. It's the front runner to win the Oscar for Best Picture and Director. It's on every major critics top ten list for best films of 2008 (and in many, many cases, it's actually their number one film of the year)

Frankly- I don't get it.

I won't get into the plot much, because there's really not much there to begin with. Jamal is a poor kid from the slums of Mumbai India. He's currently a national phenom because of his performance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Jamal is one question away from winning the ultimate prize. How'd he do it? He cheated. Not really. But everyone seems to think he did, so the story is told in flashback, revealing how he came to simply know the answers.

And it's bullshit. The coincidences get bigger and more absurd as the story progresses. Jamal knows who invented the revolver because he saw some dude get shot by one? Bullshit.

I'm not a cynic. I loved Forrest Gump, and the coincidences in Gump are at least as absurd as those in Slumdog, but the difference here is the writing. Gump was funny. Gump gave us characters we cared about. When something completely unbelievable happened in Gump, at least they made it funny and charming. Slumdog has no charm. Slumdog has some of the flattest, least lively characters you'll see in a film this year. Dev Patel's portrayal of Jamal is so dull and lifeless one can't help but wonder either A) Why was this kid chosen for this movie? or B) Why was an entire movie based on this character? I don't know who's the blame- the actor or the writer? The answer is probably both.

The worst part of the movie is by far the love story. You see, the whole reason Jamal is even on the show is so the love of his life, Latika, will see him. He's trying to find her, blah blah blah. Won't get into it. But basically, these two have zero spark. They seem more like a brother and sister than two star crossed lovers. And you can't help but wonder what Jamal sees in her anyways. It's not like they know each other all that well. They knew each other when they were kids, but after that they barely ever see each other. I can understand him wanting to save her from her horrible situations, but love her? He doesn't know her anymore. And she knows even less about him.

But none of that matters, cause Love Conquers All. They love each other because they love each other. That might be good enough for some people, but after they get together at the end (and I don't think that counts as a spoiler, since everyone knows how it's going to end anyways... did I mention how utterly predictable this movie is?) I couldn't help wondering, "Now what? After a month these two people are going to be sick of each other. But Latika will stick around for the money."

So the acting and writing sucks. But there are a few good points. Nice cinematography (despite the fact that anytime it shows them in the slums they completely rip off City of God), some fancy editing (which also looks a lot like City of God's editing... this movie is City of God-lite), etc. But techs can only take a movie so far. At the end of the film you're forced to face the facts- this is just an unbelievable fairytale with boring characters and a paper thin love story.

5/10.

-M