Epic 'Slumdog Millionaire' is pricelessly original Updated 3h 8m ago | Comment | Recommend E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Enlarge Fox Searchlight Pictures Dev Patel plays Jamal, an orphan who wins a fortune on India's most popular quiz show. He also wins the heart of a street urchin named Latika (Freida Pinto). WATCH THE TRAILER
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2008-11-11-slumdog-millionaire_N.htm * Yahoo! Buzz * Digg * Newsvine * Reddit * Facebook * What's this? By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY The exhilarating and sweeping Slumdog Millionaire (* * * * out of four) is one in a million. Director Danny Boyle's riveting and kaleidoscopic tale, based on Vikas Swarup's debut novel Q and A, is exquisitely adapted to the screen by Simon Beaufoy. An eclectic filmmaker, Boyle has made movies as diverse as the poignant children's film Millions (2005) and the grisly zombie movie 28 Days Later (2003). Slumdog is easily Boyle's best film since he rocked the film world with 1996's Trainspotting, his highly original look at a drug subculture in Scotland. Fanciful, epic and exuberantly paced, Slumdog Millionaire chronicles the life of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a dirt-poor orphan who captivates the masses as he wins a fortune on India's most popular quiz show. Told in non-linear style, the movie switches among harrowing stories of Jamal's childhood in the slums of Mumbai to his moments of awkward glory as a contestant on the show to his sudden incarceration and ensuing interrogation. It is this questioning by a police inspector (Irfan Khan) that elicits the compelling flashbacks of his early youth. Some of those memories are deeply disturbing. Jamal recounts terrible cruelties from his impoverished childhood: homelessness, torture, prostitution. He forms a bond with a savvy street urchin, Latika (played as a teen by Freida Pinto), which blossoms into love. FIND MORE STORIES IN: Scotland | India | Mumbai | Bollywood | Who Wants | Technicolor | Hindi | Boyle | Millions | Days Later | Trainspotting | Slumdog Millionaire | Vikas Swarup Despite — or perhaps because of — his traumatic childhood, Jamal becomes a determined romantic. In the process, he acquires knowledge on a wealth of subjects. By the time he appears as a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he has absorbed a range of information, keeping him on the show far longer than the smarmy host (Anil Kapoor) finds credible. A Dickensian story, Slumdog is both universal and quintessentially Indian. Some of the film is in Hindi, which heightens a sense of authenticity, as does the musical score. With dazzling, magical realism and vigorous storytelling, the film has an enchanting power, fusing a fairy tale quality with gritty realism. Yet even with interwoven surrealistic images, the story portrays cultural accuracy. In a highly charged, intensely Technicolor world, there is poverty and privation but also laughter and hope, accentuated by the tribute to Bollywood musicals during the final credits. The beautifully rendered and energetic tale celebrates resilience, the power of knowledge and the vitality of the human experience. Horrifying, humorous and life-affirming, it is, above all, unforgettable. (Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language. Running time: 2 hours. Opens today in select cities.)
