Feb 06 2009
Slumdog Millionaire!!!
Hi all,
The buzz over this movie just seems to be growing and growing. At the Golden Globes, it won Best Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Many think it’s going to be the sleeper hit that ekes out some Oscars as well. For those who don’t know, the main character is Jamal, an Indian boy who is just tring to survive. He goes on Who Wants to be a Millionaire to gain the attention of his love interest: Latika. Also playing a major role in the story is his brother Salim. Not surprisingly, the story follows the brothers from childhood until they part ways, and, then, into the adult life of Jamal.
I’m going to digress for a moment and talk about my excitement and expectations for this movie. I don’t live in a large city, so I had to wait for it to be released. I badly wanted to see this film since the first time that I heard about it. It sounded amazing, and I had very high expectations for it going in. Also, for some odd reson, I thought this had been based on a true story. As I watched the movie, I wasn’t disappointed. It was amazing, but I realized that I must have been way off with the whole true story aspect because this movie is also sensational. The narrative is a fast moving story told in cutbacks between the past and present.
Back to the movie. So, I liked the movie, and I loved the story; however, the feeling didn’t linger for long. Everyone loves a feel good movie, and this film really tugs at the heart strings to the point that Jamal feels real and is easily likeable if not loveable. Latika, on the other hand, is poorly developed in my opinion and is pretty one dimensional. She is beautiful and cares for Jamal, but she doesn’t contribute much more than that. My main problem is that this movie is too tragic, and it plays out something like this: tragic, funny, tragic, tragic, depressing, tragic, tragic, depressing, tragic, hopeful, tragic, and, finally, feel good ending(I hope I didn’t spoil it). I would agrue that there is too much tragedy, but this is still an excellent movie. I give it an 8/10 and would still recommend it to anyone.
