Excellent

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2009)

Slumdog Millionaire uses the deceptively simple device of telling young Jamal's life story from being a small child in the slums of Bombay in order to explain how come he knows the answers to the questions on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, leaving him one question short of the top prize. The answers/his story involve (among other things) the death of his mother, a short career as a beggar, the interaction with his less scrupulous brother over the years and, beyond everything, his ongoing search for Latika, the girl he befriended when they were small children.
It is not a pretty story, but it is always gripping, always visually fascinating (and sometimes appalling) to these western eyes at any rate, sometimes very humorous, and very often sufficient to make you despair at the sheer unfairness at how life - and some very unpleasant people - treat Jamal and Latika.
I've heard it described as a feelgood movie, and it's certainly not that but, if I can liken it to anything, I would liken it to The Shawshank Redemption in that it is a story about the ability of the individual to strive for something positive in the face of every obstacle life can throw in your path, and the soaring joy to the spirit when that elusive goal is finally achieved.
The cast, most of whom are unknown to western viewers (Dev Patel, who plays Jamal, has had some TV exposure in the UK) are uniformly excellent, and the youngsters who play the 3 principals at two different stages of childhood deserve special mention.
And India plays a huge part - the film is so immersive that, much of the time, it is like being there. The only things missing are the smell and the heat.
This is an entertaining, enjoyable movie which has real substance to it. Highly recommended.