Is that your final answer?

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2009)

There's no need to phone a friend, ask the audience, nor choose a fifty-fifty to determine if you should see this film. The answer is obvious: SEE IT NOW. The film follows the story of the life of an impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik, who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?", wins, and is then suspected of cheating.
Throughout the film, we learn that Jamal is able to answer the questions in the game show correctly because of key points in his life. Not only is this about a game show, it's about Jamal's life story. The film mixes the flashbacks and present flawlessly. Probably telling a life story of someone is not new. Just last December, there was "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." However, the fact that the film mixes Jamal's life story with his ability to answer the questions in the game show is quite clever and ingenious. It adds another fresh twist to what might be another story about someone's life.
Even too, the game show plays a crucial element to the plot so the whole puzzle fits together perfectly in the end. It's just another thing that makes this movie so great. Now let's talk about the performances. Wow! Weren't they great? Dev Patel gives us a breakthrough performance. Everyone else, although not as memorable as Patel, gave us their all in here too. The soundtrack is also very good. I loved it.
So what makes this movie so great? Just watch it. I really can't spoil it. Maybe I can just say it's about fate and destiny but then you might roll your eyes. It's just a captivating film with fantastic performances from unknown actors and in the end, I'll admit it, I really can't find anything to not like about the film. It's what I call a nearly flawless film. Compared to Danny Boyle's previous disappointing film, "Sunshine," "Slumdog Millionaire" is several steps up to the right direction, not to mention one of the best films of this year.