The key to enjoying this picture lies in the end-credits sequence, a
Bollywood-style dance number featuring the entire cast.
Too good to be true?Certainly "Slumdog Millionaire" sticks. The film, adapted
by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy ("The Full Monty," "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a
Day") from Vikas Swarup's best seller, follows an orphan boy played by three
different actors, most prominently Dev Patel as a young man. Jamal, the
protagonist, is sweating out a rough police interrogation the night before he
risks 20 million rupees in potential winnings on the Hindi version of "Who
Wants To Be a Millionaire?" Jamal is a national hero, a rags-to-riches fairy
tale incarnate. But is he a fraud? The police believe he is.
Surely this "slumdog" couldn't possibly possess such wide-ranging knowledge,
relating to who's on the U.S. $100 bill or who invented the revolver. For each
question Jamal answers on camera, while millions hold their breath, another
chapter of a fantastically resilient life is revealed by way of flashback.
Boyle's previous films include "Trainspotting," "Millions" and "Sunshine," and
this, I suspect, will be his biggest hit to date. It opens in America Nov. 28.
The key to enjoying this picture lies in the end-credits sequence, a
Bollywood-style dance number featuring the entire cast. The entire film asks to
be interpreted this way: as a Bollywood pileup of extreme emotions and
picaresque adventures.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-toronto-0908sep08,0,3062082.story
