Nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Sound Editing, Score and two nominations for Best Song.
The Plot: The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...
Wow. I don't think you watch Slumdog Millionaire. You experience it. It drags you in with a mystery of how does this kid know the answers, then plunges you down a rabbit hole into the shocking slums of Mumbai, all the while dazzling you with color and amazing camera work, and sustaining you with near nonstop beat of a kinetic score. You are treated to a hellish existence for an hour and forty five minutes, before a cheer worthy ending which will bring a tear to you eye and put some hope in your heart.
The Good: The film is a true film making achievement. The cinematography and editing are as good as any film ever made. Shot with handheld digital cameras in the actual slums. Just stop and try to comprehend the scope of filming in those conditions with that hundreds of people just wandering around. The film is perfectly cast, not just the two older stars, Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, and the smarmy game show host (Kapoor), but this may be the best performance by child actors I've ever seen. And they do things no child should have to. And the what an ending. And, stay for the best closing credits since Cannonball Run.
The Bad: Many will be horrified by the challenges the children face in order to survive the slums. It will turn off a great many viewers. But you have to look beyond that and realize everything in the film is crucial to the plot, and it's executed with the artistic hand of director Boyle.
The Ugly: Was the shit dive scene really necessary? C'mon, really?!? I know Boyle has a thing for this type of scene (remember Trainspotting?) but it was Ggggrrroosssss! (notice the capital G).
Movie Cheetah's Grade: A
Oscar Forecast: Slumdog seems to be the favorite to win best picture (though my vote would go to another film! more on that later), and it surly should win best director, Cinematography, Editing, and Score. Seriously the score is so compelling, I was tapping my feet the entire film. It may win Best Sound, but not Sound Editing. Whichever of the two songs nominated that plays over the credits should win the Best Song Oscar. The Adapted screenplay category is a true toss up. Good luck picking that category!
This is is the first Academy Award nomination for producer Christian Colson, director Danny Boyle, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, editor Chris Dickens, sound mixer Resul Pookutty (hehehe), sound re-recording mixers Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke, and supervising sound editors Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers.
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