More like "Underdog millionaire"

Rating: Null/10 (24 February 2009)

One word summary: Amazing.
With more then one words: first of all; Mr. Boyle, I'm sorry. I didn't get "Trainspotting", I taught "The beach" proved you're mediocre (as a side note: my parents there then, on a holiday near where it was shot) and I also thought that "28 days later" was a lucky shot. "Slumdog" proves once and for all I have been misjudging you - you DO have the talent. "Slumdog" is one of those rare examples that come by you only now and then in a lifetime. In my life the earliest example of this was "E.T." back when I was 6, and the last time was "Shaolin soccer" some years back. This year I was already treated with "Gran Torino", so I REALLY wasn't expecting anything of this level - and hey, it's only February! As a struggling scriptwriter - sort of myself, this has thought me more than just one lesson. The idea of a poor man's journey through life giving him just the right answers for scoring it big on a TV show is a flash of genius, juggling with traditional issues like "fate" and "destiny" with those of popular culture. That alone would have secured any British director a sure 6.5 IMDb - point Hugh Grant Box office - hit. And no doubt all but one would have done just that (as would any American director). Now, for some reason, mr. Boyle wanted to put a spin on it (or keep the original premise?), and set it in a foreign culture; India. That's risky. And most who have tried this, have failed... but not in this case.
Mr. Boylse handles everything suavely and professionally. He doesn't preach pro or against; instead, he fully accomplishes in taking the best of both worlds as he simply tells the story in another culture.
The whole beauty of it, with the whole beauty of it surroundings. In the end, you WILL feel that even if the movie took you in another place to tell the story, that that WAS the place the story was meant to be told in. And that the 2 hours it took to tell it, there wasn't a minute too much.
That's rare. And that's a reason to go see this movie.
I am truly happy this movie has managed to find an audience, lingering in the top 10 all these weeks (working its way from the bottom up !) and scoring all those 8 Oscars, DESERVINGLY!