Dumbdog

Rating: 1/10 (10 January 2010)

The most over-rated film in the history of cinema.
A hideously contrived, illogical, unrealistic portrayal of a nation and peoples whose lives are steeped in poverty, made for the consumption and entertainment of the gluttonous morbidity upon which Westernised base morals gorge their stupified mindsets.
The first hour is engaging, fast paced and brilliantly acted by the children, Unfortunately it is done in the manner of a Hollywood action movie, leaving the unpleasant after taste, to those with any sense of discernment, that subsistence and poverty are somehow fun and exciting. However, the emotional bonds between the characters are well defined and at times moving. As they grow up, these bonds remain and the older brother acts as a father figure to his brother and the girl.
It is at this point the plot falls apart as he gets involved in murder, mayhem and the sexual abuse and enslavery of the girl for whom he has spent most of his life protecting beyond his own. He turns against his brother and reinvents himself on the back of an absurd plot line involving a thuggish yet moronic Mafiosa gang.
The unlikely love story then evolves through numerous plot holes regarding the format of the gameshow, the illogical rationale of the host trying to sabotage the 'slumdog' in his quest for the top prize, the impossible logistics of the 'phone a friend' scenario, all culminating in a nauseous 'happy ending' in which we are supposed to feel SO happy for the lucky couple and view the death of the older brother as some kind of twisted victory for good over evil, or love over money.
And yet this film is all about money, consumption and the excess of success. To me the only 'feel good' ending would be for him to have lost the money but got the girl, but for the greed obsessed cinema goer, this wouldn't be enough. He had to have it all, even if by luck, not judgement.
As for the ridiculous dance scene at the end, it was a crass, embarrassing and shameful exploitation of Indian culture dressed up in Hollywodd schmaltz. I came out feeling irritable, annoyed, despising everything about this travesty and the overwhelming human response which somehow is enthused and excited rather than intellectually and morally insulted by this obnoxious filth.