Slumdog Millionaire Written Review

[Al McGhee]

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Running Time: 120 min; Rated: R)
Reviewed by Denise Castillón
Your Entertainment Ticket.Com

An Underdog Worth Cheering For In SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

“Slumdog Millionaire” is harrowing and suspenseful drama juxtaposed with an epic love story that begins in a poverty-stricken Bombay shanty town that later flourishes into the modern-day city of Mumbai.

Jamal Malik, an impoverished orphaned eighteen year-old, uses the hard-earned lessons learned, while surviving on his wits in the slums, to successfully answer the trivia questions on India’s popular TV game show import, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”. However, due to his lowly class status as a street orphan, Jamal is arrested for suspicion of cheating. After unbroken by extremely applied torture techniques, Jamal is then interrogated by a police inspector on how the uneducated Jamal had furnished the answer to each asked question. At this point, Jamal reveals his traumatic childhood history shared with his brother Salim and his relentless search for the girl of his “destiny”, Lakita through flashback story-telling.

Your championing of our optimistic hero is divided between each tension-building response by Jamal that increases his game show winnings and his enduring attempts to reunite with his beloved despite the repeated and cruel obstacles set up by his cunning brother.

“Slumdog Millionaire” is in no way a Bollywood musical; nevertheless, all your nervous nail-biting will be rewarded with the customary en masse grand finale.

Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan.

Directed by Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING, MILLIONS, 28 DAYS LATER), co-directed by Loveleen Tandan (India). Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy (THE FULL MONTY), based on the international bestselling novel “Q&A” by Vikas Swarup. Director of photography Anthony Dod Mantel BSC DFF (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) and edited by Chris Dickens. Production designed by Mark Digby and costumes designed by Suttirat Anne Larlarb. Music composed and produced by A. R. Rahman

Produced by Christian Colson (SEPARATE LIES, THE DESCENT) and co-produced by Paul Ritchie. Executive producers are Paul Smith and Tessa Ross. A Celador Films Production. Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

[Rachel Galvin]

Thanks for posting this!