This movie was nothing but a cliché. It was terrible.

Rating: 4/10 (13 January 2009)

This movie was a super duper cliché, predictable and obvious. It seemed to be going by the typical cinematic formula. A young kid suffers, and is the underdog that we (as the audience) all root for--he is an honest kid with a heart of gold who must go through tragedy after tragedy---and at the end of the movie--he finds love and millions of dollars. How can we even "feel" for these characters when we never even get to know them (besides the fact that they've been through so much). So at the end it doesn't matter one way or another whether he lives or dies. WHy? because I didn't really care for any of them. Why? because we never go to know them. There was no depth to these people , and to this movie. It didn't touch my heart, it didn't move me. It seemed to be more about the way it looked (cinematography, editing, etc). Therefore, it was more flash than anything profound. And too many scenes were trying too hard---they were trying to be "cutesy", for example, the toilet scene with the little kid when he's covered in feces---sorry, but I did not find it funny or cute. Actually, didn't evoke anything for me--but I could tell the movie desperately wanted the audiences to laugh out loud. Also, the chili pepper scene (when the little kid get's it thrown in his privates) again, not funny or cute, just kinda like "whatever"-an if anything, it annoyed me because I could tell the movie was trying too hard. Plus, the whole "black an white" thing where there's the "bad evil" characters--an the "good" characters is just nonsense--life is gray, not black an white. The whole "WHo wants to be a millionaire" thing is just a gimmick Danny Boyle used to catch the attention of people--and use it an fairytale way. The premise is very far fetched. The whole movie is contrived. It's very 'on the surface'. If u want to see a real movie--with a third world topic--check out, "City of God". Believe me you will see the difference between a good movie and a bad one.