With a few caveats in place, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed Danny Boyle's latest film Slumdog Millionaire. The story follows Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" His life is unfolded through a series of flashbacks that show how his life experiences helped him answer the questions on the show. To be clear, its more about his life than the game show. Sure, it's a feel-good love story and you know how it will end, but these aren't problems or at least weren't for me.
There was a lot I liked about the film. First, it's an offering unlike Boyle's other films (Sunshine, Millions, 28 Days Later..., The Beach, Trainspotting). The muted color pallet of Sunshine has turned into vibrant India, even if tough neighborhoods (Trainspotting) and the whimsy of childhood (Millions) have shown up before in his work. I also appreciated that it portrayed some facets of slum life which I'd guess many fail to realize take place. So, although heartbreaking, I'm glad that what is on the whole a fun film, didn't need to avoid topics like the intentional maiming of children to increase what they can procure from begging. In short, thankfully, it has more grit than a Hollywood romantic film that blithely throws around words like destiny. Lastly, I found it charming, well-paced, and curiously powerful for a film that has a plot anchor that should but doesn't inevitably dash the film against the rocks of credibility. It's a lovely film that I highly recommend. See it if you haven't. [The trailer doesn't do it justice.]
Oh, and I also saw the film Seven Pounds that stars Will Smith. Skip it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment