A Minor Success

Rating: 6/10 (9 March 2009)

Anyone that can make a movie warrants a pat on the back. Anyone that makes a movie that people want to see deserves great kudos. Once this is done. of course, everyone has a say on the pros and cons, whys and wherefores. Make you wonder why they bother.
I've seen a few of Danny Boyle's movies: Shallow Grave, Millions, my favourite Trainspotting and now Slumbog Millionaire. The latter with all it's praise and little gold statuettes is not a vast success. Not for me anywhere. It's a curious hydrid of Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary. It has a mix of edgy realism and romantic fantasy and suffers because of it.
Perhaps it's me, seeing Danny Boyle's name above the title and creating unreasonable expectations. Boyle is able to make whatever film he likes, and I don't think he'll be fretting over the critical of commercial reaction thus far.
Slumbog works best in the first half hour. It's an intriguing story and kicked off with a bang. Children living, playing, stealing and surviving in the slums of Mumbai. For many of us, I'm sure this is quite an eye-opener. All those people! The child actors, who apparently are amateurs are wonderful. There's something about the emotion in a child's eyes that an adult actor spoilt by complication can't manage.