A fairytale for adults: $1 million solves all problems

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2008)

This is a great film, it pulses with life, music, and culture, but the majority of its greatness can be seen in the first hour. I tried my best to avoid the hype, maybe I waited too long, maybe I'm part of the 'backlash,' but I would like to think this would have been my reaction even if I'd seen it sooner. The first half has it all. Laugh-out-loud comedy becomes devastating tragedy leading to grand adventure all across India. It's magic, you are right there in the slums, the game show set, the train, but the illusion begins to wear off at about midpoint as things begins to flow, inevitably, toward an ending where everything will come together and be right. Stories can do this while still maintaining tension, and the finale of this film does have its tense moments, but it also loses a lot of steam. I get that it's a fairytale, and this is one of the great modern day fairy tales of our time, but it's hard to relate to characters when they are just purely good or evil for the sake of being one or the other. The only character who struggles with this dichotomy is the older brother, Salim. For this reason he's the most interesting character, because he's the only unpredictable character. I couldn't stand the game show host. He was on the evil side of things, but I'm not sure why. Ultimately, I wanted to see an ending that could equal its beginning, but it didn't hit me like I wanted it to. The guy and girl love one another just because they do, regardless of knowing whether or not they share any interests or actually get along over an extended period of time.