Extreme Cruelty

Rating: 5/10 (23 December 2008)

I was really looking forward to this movie based on the reviews, and made my two teenage sons go with me. I had to leave after 30 minutes. It was so cruel and vicious I just couldn't sit through one more act of inhumanity against children. If you thought Trainspotting was rough to take, it's nothing compared to Slumdog Millionaire. I loved Trainspotting in spite of the violence, but this movie was just relentless. I've seen much more effective depictions of the victimization of children in India, and the civil war between Hindu and Muslim, without resorting to MTV-style artistic violence. Danny Boyle, the director of both films, did a masterful job of using violence to make his point in Trainspotting; in Slumdog Millionaire I wondered whether he was actually getting off on it. Unless you have a really strong stomach and don't have a problem watching children treated like cockroaches, give it a miss. I feel certain you won't be missing much.