Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

O Masterpiece
X Excellent
O Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / January 24, 2009

What if all the worst days of your life added up to give you exactly what you needed to experience the best day of your life?

We hear this equation frequently, especially in theology. In the Old Testament, for example, we read that “the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.” Also, “(God) shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain,” or “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

Though it isn’t overtly religious, the brilliance that is “Slumdog Millionaire” is designed after this principle of life’s bitterest lemons rendering sweet lemonade. The film’s trailer reveals that Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a triumphant winner on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

The big question is how does an uneducated “slumdog” know the answers to all those questions? Did he cheat? No. He knows the answers because life cheated him. The film is built upon flashbacks between each game-show question that reveal how Jamal’s knowledge of these random answers happens to come from their being burned into his memory through several unbearable experiences. Essentially, Jamal knows the answers because they’re scars on his soul.

I am convinced that an element of great storytelling gives us little satellite stories within the primary story. I’m not referring to relevant subplots that obliquely tie into the principal plot, but instead, fanciful wanderings off the beaten path that help us know something more about the characters.

I’ll never forget the horrid mini tale told in “Gremlins” — from 1984 — when Kate, the character played by Phoebe Cates, explains why she doesn’t like Christmas. (Remember? — because her dad got stuck in the chimney while trying to play Santa Claus for her family, and they didn’t discover him until days later when they started to smell a terrible odor.)

Another more recent example would be in “The Dark Knight,” when Michael Caine tells how he and his cohorts had to deal with an infamous jewel thief in the jungles of Burma. Well, “Slumdog Millionaire” is filled with several of these sad but chilling mini tales, and that’s what makes the film so spectacular.

It has already received widespread critical acclaim: At the 66th Annual Golden Globes, “Slumdog” won four awards, including Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Director for its captain, Danny Boyle. And two days ago we heard the nominees for the 81st Academy Awards. “Slumdog” has 10 nominations, including Best Motion Picture. I suspect it will be a titanic winner.

“Slumdog” is filmed mostly in English, though it’s about 40 percent subtitled. Above all, it is meant to be a love story, but “Slumdog’s” theme, which I mentioned already, is so consuming, it unintentionally eclipses the romance.

Dev Patel’s performance as Jamal should be admired: He’s a serious and sober young man whose confidence comes from his unflinching resilience to fear. Jamal is unafraid, and therefore, unstoppable. How can you intimidate or hurt someone whose life is comprised of so many unthinkable tragedies that pain has become normalcy. And really, Jamal doesn’t care one bit about the money — all he wants is his destiny, his true love, Latika (Freida Pinto). Patel effectively conveys all of the above.

“Slumdog” and its makers have been receiving a lot of heat from India, because it serves as an exposé of the country’s profound poverty. But the film doesn’t blatantly critique India; it frankly shows us the deplorable conditions of its people peripherally, as a conspicuous backdrop to the story.

And yet, even with all its power, “Slumdog” is a throwback to the conventions of Hollywood, even classical cinema — minus the star power — where we have a narrative form, conflict and resolution. But here we are dazzled with familiar elements of formulaic storytelling that have been delivered and executed with excellence.

Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan
Dev Patel / Freida Pinto / Madhur Mittal
Drama / Romance 120 min.
MPAA: R (for some violence, disturbing images and language)

U.S. Release Date: November 12, 2008
Copyright 2008: 332