Slumdog Millionaire

I went to two movies this weekend, both of which are a bit under the radar. The first was Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" and the second was a vampire love story that is not called "Twilight." I will review "Let the Right One In" soon.

Slumdog Millionaire - Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is one question away from winning 20 million rupees (about $400,000) on India's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Before time ran out for the night he correctly answered the 10 million rupee question but instead of spending his day sharpening his trivia knowledge for the final question, he's in another kind of hot seat. Suspected of cheating, Jamal is at the police station. No one believes that this poor, uneducated "slumdog" could know all of the answers to these very difficult questions. Certainly not the show's host, Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor), who smugly mocks young Jamal throughout the game. Kumar sees an insignificant simpleton with a lousy job (Jamal gets coffee for phone company employees). So do the police officers questioning him.
The inspector (Irfan Khan) goes through each question on tape with Jamal. The inspector's doubts are only encouraged by Jamal needing to ask the audience on the second question, the answer to which is "known by every five year old in India." But question after question has a story behind it. Each answer has an incredible significance in Jamal's life journey. It is as if the poor, stark, brutal existence Jamal has experienced from childhood has been preparing him for this moment.
Through flashbacks we see Jamal's life and his many struggles. Jamal barely survives childhood in Mumbai, sometimes thanks to his brother Salim, but often in spite of him. Along the way, Jamal finds and loses Latika from his life. She is the girl he cannot forget and whom he never gives up on finding, even in a city of 19 million people.
Based upon the novel "Q and A," and with a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy ("Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day," "The Full Monty"), "Slumdog Millionaire" has a sense of magic to it, even through the many dark times we see Jamal go through. Jamal, Salim, and Latika are all played by three different actors at different stages of life and all of them are terrific. Three actors successfully creating one character takes a certain amount of talent from everyone involved. In this film it happens three times.
Director Danny Boyle ("Shallow Grave," "Trainspotting," "Millions") has always had a knack for blending style with substance but this is his most heartfelt film. By the end he has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. As Jamal went to the chair to answer his final question I felt the kind of excitement that only a skillful filmmaker at the top of his game can create. The audience I saw it with clearly felt the same way.
"Slumdog Millionaire" is a terrific and uplifting film with one of the most thrilling movie climaxes in recent memory. Currently in limited release, it is well worth seeking out and is highly recommended. In Seattle it is playing at the Harvard Exit. 9/10.