Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

All Critics (229) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (221) | Rotten (15) | DVD (22)

Boyle takes his wildly high-energy visual aesthetic and applies it to a story that, at its core, is rather sweet and traditionally crowdpleasing.

February 20, 2013 Full Review

Christy Lemire

Associated Press

Top Critic

It's Oliver Twist by way of City of God.

February 20, 2013 Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

The best movie of 2008.

February 7, 2009 Full Review | Comments (11)

Richard Roeper

Richard Roeper.com

Top Critic

Slumdog Millionaire, a film so upbeat and colourful that, by the time you're relaying its infectious air of optimism to friends, you could forget that it features orphans, slaughter, organised crime, poverty, enslavement and police brutality.

January 9, 2009 Full Review | Comments (2)

Dave Calhoun

Time Out

Top Critic

Slumdog Millionaire is not the cure for all the world's ills, but it comes close. It solves, for instance, such endemic global problems as: a) sadness, b) lovelessness, c) cynicism, and d) the waning cultural relevance of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

December 12, 2008 Full Review

Amy Biancolli

Houston Chronicle

Top Critic

From an early footchase in which the careening camera gives us a tour of the maze-like slums, to the ridiculously uplifting Bollywood dance number that plays over the end credits, Slumdog Millionaire makes for kinetic, exhilarating entertainment.

December 12, 2008

Rene Rodriguez

Miami Herald

Top Critic

Slumdog Millionaire is a giddy, breathtaking experience, kind of like winning a million bucks. It's also tough, violent and shocking.

February 20, 2013 Full Review

Lee Grant

San Diego Union-Tribune

Danny Boyle's bravura command of the film medium elevates the melodramatic Slumdog Millionaire into a dazzling crowd-pleaser teeming with the sights, sounds and sensations of modern India.

February 20, 2013 Full Review

Allan Hunter

Screen International

A great movie is something more than the sum total of all its parts, and here, the elements all come together to form a feature that speaks a universal form of optimism that isn't likely to get lost in translation.

February 20, 2013 Full Review

Jason Buchanan

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Slumdog Millionaire is a film that's rich with character, emotion and pathos - with a supremely uplifting finale that'll leave your head in the clouds, it's the kind of movie that will significantly brighten your day.

September 29, 2012 Full Review

Ali Gray

TheShiznit.co.uk

It's a big, exuberant film that revels in the joy of a good story.

February 22, 2012 Full Review

Hank Sartin

Time Out Chicago

Jets along on a rocket-fuel cocktail of blood-pumping adrenaline, powerful secrets, searing heartache and rousing uplift.

September 28, 2011 Full Review

Neil Pond

American Profile

What a difference a good screenplay makes.

August 16, 2011 Full Review

Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

There's currently plenty of Oscar buzz and it's richly deserved, as Slumdog Millionaire ranks alongside The Wrestler as the two latest masterpieces of the 21st Century.

July 14, 2011 Full Review

Ben Rawson-Jones

Digital Spy

Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, the older Jamal and Latika, will make you smile and cry and happy you saw Slumdog Millionaire, which will certainly be in the Oscar hunt.

July 6, 2010 Full Review

Jean Lowerison

San Diego Metropolitan

Like a director from Hollywood's golden age, Boyle has a particular talent for putting a realistic spin on the outlandish.

June 12, 2010 Full Review

Ian Buckwalter

DCist

Features a striking hero named Jamal Malik, who is as intrepid, indomitable and pure of heart as an idealized medieval knight.

September 18, 2009 Full Review | Comment (1)

Matt Soergel

Florida Times-Union

Slumdog Millionaire immerses the audience in an alien landscape and shows it through the eyes of a young man fighting against history and his own culture's expectations.

August 30, 2009 Full Review | Comment (1)

Sonny Bunch

Washington Times

Shows how a critic-pleasing film can be every bit as overbearing as a crowd-pleasing one

August 26, 2009 Full Review | Comments (15)

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Captivatingly told, dynamically directed and superbly acted; Slumdog Millionaire is near unfaultable.

August 1, 2009 Full Review | Comment (1)

Anders Wotzke

Moviedex

The greatest part of 'Slumdog' is that it transcends all boundaries: race, gender, region and class.

July 3, 2009 Full Review | Comment (1)

Clay Cane

BET.com

• 1. Jamal Malik (older): There was no message! There was no message! There was no massage!
  – Submitted by Hunter E (12 months ago)
• 1. Jamal Malik (older): I went on, because I knew she'd be watching.
  – Submitted by Michael C (17 months ago)
• 1. Jamal Malik (older): If it wasn't for Rama and Allah, I'd still have a mother.
  – Submitted by Joe M (17 months ago)
• 1. Latika (older): (answers phone) Hello?
  2. Prem Kumar: I'm guessing that's not your brother.
  – Submitted by Diego T (22 months ago)
• 1. Sergeant Srinivas: Name!
  2. Jamal Malik (older): Jamal Malik.
  3. Sergeant Srinivas: You have a name. Good!
  4. Jamal Malik (older): [cries]
  5. Sergeant Srinivas: Stop crying.
  – Submitted by Diego T (22 months ago)
• 1. Prem Kumar: You a big reader, Jamal?
  2. Jamal Malik (older): I can read.
  – Submitted by Diego T (22 months ago)