No Top 250 material.

Rating: 6/10 (1 April 2009)

Overly sentimental, anything but credible and ridiculously over-hyped, this petty excuse of a movie managed to reel in a multitude of Oscars. I have to admit I wasn't exactly bored while watching it, but a second viewing just isn't going to happen.
The storyline's a wash - to name just one inconsistency, as Salman Rushdie pointed out: from Bombay to the Taj Mahal by jumping a train? Really? -, the actors don't bring anything truly endearing or sympathetic to their characters, and the 'award-winning' music is more often a nuisance than an extra to the whole movie-going experience. Don't get me wrong: I love M.I.A., for instance, but for the biggest part it just didn't work for me.
In fact, the only virtues of this film are the often astonishing landscapes, the energetic, yet dynamic camera work and the rhythmic, punctual direction. But you simply cannot make a good movie out of those three elements - except if you wanna go all 'Koyaanisqatsi', which I love. But they didn't.
Hence: six out of ten.
P.S.: To be completely honest, I would probably rate this a seven, seven and a half tops if it weren't for the suffocating hype surrounding the film, but I feel like bringing the overall score down a notch in my own humble way, because 'Slumdog' simply doesn't deserve such a high rating. I mean: Top 250? No.
Let's just wait and see who will remember this film in three to five years' time.