Emotional and complex, 'Slumdog' hits the jackpot Doug Pullen / El Paso Times <[email protected]?subject=el Paso Times: Emotional and complex, 'Slumdog' hits the jackpot> Posted: 02/27/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
<http://www.elpasotimes.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=2330949> Dev Patel, left, ponders a question from Anil Kapoor in "Slumdog Millionaire." This review first ran Dec. 19, when "Slumdog Millionaire" opened at Cielo Vista. Last week, the film won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, and it's now in theaters across town. "Slumdog Millionaire" is a) a new British punk band; b) a hot lowrider; c) the latest Texas lotto game; or d) one of the most inspiring movies of the year? The answer's obvious. Punkish English director Danny Boyle loves to use loud, pounding music in his movies, has a knack for what's cool and hip in contemporary culture, and loves to take chances as a filmmaker. He also has an eye for gritty realism ("Trainspotting"), a feel for charming underdogs ("Millions"), a taste for the tragic ("28 Days Later") and a true love for stories with moral dilemmas <http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/pullen/> Pullen My Blog<http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/pullen/> Pullen My Blog <http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/pullen/> - Oscar post-script: 18-6 on predictions<http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/pullen/2009/02/oscar-postscript-186-on-predictions.html> I just counted up the Oscar predictions I got right and the ones I got wrong. I got 18… - Night at the Oscars (final): "Slumdog" fulfills its destiny<http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/pullen/2009/02/night-at-the-oscars-final-slumdog-fulfills-its-destiny.html> It is destined. "Slumdog Millionaire" wins Best Picture (and it should). The win caps an unlikely story about an… [image: Headlines by FeedBurner] <http://www.feedburner.com/> (all of the above). He puts all of those elements together in the inspired and inspiring "Slumdog Millionaire," a winning film that, like its main character, seems destined for greater things. Destiny is at the core of this inventive story about young Jamal Malik, a product of Mumbai's teeming slums, who beats the odds to compete on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire," or "millunaire," as its self-impressed host says repeatedly. But Jamal's not there for the 20 million rupees he could win. He's there for love. The movie opens with a "Millionaire"-like question of its own, then spends two very fast, engrossing, roller coaster hours answering it -- one of many ingenious ways in which Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy ------------------------------ Advertisement ------------------------------ ("The Full Monty") tie the circuitous story's numerous threads together. It's an emotional journey that's well worth the time, but you might need a strong stomach at times. "Slumdog" traces Jamal's Dickensian life from childhood to adolescence, growing up Muslim in the steamy slums of Mumbai, back when it was known as Bombay, thus the derogatory "slumdog" nickname. Jamal and older brother Salim lose their mother during a vicious Hindu attack. With Latika -- the object of young Jamal's affection -- in tow, they find refuge with a man one child calls a "bloody saint," a double entendre if there ever was one. The brothers escape, but leave Latika behind, one of many judgment calls Salim will impose on his cherub-faced little brother. They live on the lam and rely on their wits, be it hustling on trains or scamming tourists at the Taj Mahal. A confrontation with a gun, the same gun that freed them earlier, separates the siblings for several years. When they meet again, Jamal is a teenager serving tea in one of India's numerous call centers and the unscrupulous Salim is muscle for a local mobster who has Latika in his grubby clutches. That sets in motion the film's uplifting but far from certain final act, which taps some of that "Rocky" rawness with a little of "Whale Rider's" poignancy mixed in as Jamal gets on Latika's favorite game show and tackles some tricky questions. Boyle expertly jumps the story around in non-linear fashion, from the present to various stages of the past, including his often-brutal interrogation by police for allegedly cheating on the show. His questioner eventually relents, calling his story "bizarrely possible." In the process, we get the stories behind the answers, an intimate look at a country in transition, and a picture of how poverty disenfranchises those in its thrall. It's pretty telling when Jamal knows whose portrait is on the $100 bill, but thinks the Taj Mahal is a hotel. Boyle wisely cast unknowns in the lead roles, the better to let this story of purity and perseverance shine. British TV's Dev Patel brings the kind of believable wide-eyed, boyish charm to Jamal. Madhur Mittal balances a brotherly sense of duty with an avariciousness and anger that's menacing. The director's deft touch, and Anthony Dod Mantle's gritty cinematography, keep Beaufoy's complicated script (based on Vikas Sarump's novel "Q and A") and his cast from going off track. A montage in which Mittal sets off a cataclysmic event while in a bathtub full of rupees is a thing of cinematic beauty. Bollywood vet A.R. Rahman provides a thumping soundtrack that combines the traditional with the contemporary, including a well-placed remix of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" (for a bit of fun, don't skip the closing credits). There are weaknesses, of course. "Slumdog Millionaire" is ostensibly a love story, but the object of Jamal's affection is really a secondary character. Freida Pinto, the model-turned-actress who plays the adult Latika, is mere (if lovely) window dressing. Their love story is an inspired winner. But the real love story, and the movie's real power, is generated by the two brothers. And that's my final answer. Doug Pullen may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6397. http://www.elpasotimes.com/entertainment/ci_11793079 -- regards, Vithur
