Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Directed by Danny Boyle & Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)

Written by Simon Beaufoy(screenplay)
Based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup

Dev Patel ... Jamal Malik
Saurabh Shukla ... Sergeant Srinivas
Freida Pinto ... Latika
Irfan Khan ... Police Inspector
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail ... Youngest Salim
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar ... Youngest Jamal

Rated R
Runtime: 2 hrs.

Lacking words to describe this movie. It comes at you. Assaults is not the right word. It is driving but sweeping. It rarely lets up, but never allows the pace to outstrip the story. It uses many cuts and herky-jerky camerawork to tell its story, but it's necessary. It's vital to the telling. At every moment, this movie knows who its main character is. Every camera angle, every color, every effect, tells us who we are following and how they are feeling. The cinematography absolutely shimmers.

I've thrown about words describing Slumdog's technical achievements. They are many. More than listed above, but for those concerned, they do not the movie make. At least not completely. They are all in service, as all technical aspects should be, of the story, in this case the story of Jamal, the slumdog who becomes an overnight celebrity as he keeps giving the right answers on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Jamal is played by Dev Patel. Thus far, it's the performance of the year. My friend Jake has said the movie takes you through the spectrum of human emotion. True. Therefore implying that Jamal must go through the same. Also true. Take a look at Dev Patel. He's young, tall in the way that makes you believe his body's still growing into itself. His ears, let's be honest, they stick out a little. He's endearing. We expect him to feel out of his element, and when he is, it's pitch perfect. However, when he's interrogated because they believe he's cheating, after all, how could a slumdog know all these answers, the gravitas he brings is reminiscent of the best noir actors.

And when he is defending his love....

The movie leaps, from the interrogation room, to the stories that gave him these answers. Here we learn that Jamal and his brother Salim grew up in the slums. In a tragic turn, they are forced to fend for themselves. A young girl, Latika, comes along with them. This is the trio that forms the body of the movie and Jamal's love for Latika the spine.

I'm retracing in my mind where they all end up, go, arrive. A friend saw the movie and thought it was "AWESOME" (his text) but later said it was long. It is only two hours and feels longer, not because it drags, but because of the breadth of the story and the range of emotions you experience. And all the time we come back to Millionaire and watch as these stories now inform the scene, enriching what for us and for the viewers in the movie had only been a gameshow.

I've praised the cinematography. The movie is also a triumph in casting. I've also mentioned Dev Patel. But we see these characters grow and each is played by three different actors, all exceptional. And the actor playing the youngest Jamal is about the cutest kid you've ever seen.

The movie is vibrant. That's the best word. I think you need to go see it.