Hardscrabble British director Danny Boyle does an astounding job at building and maintaining suspense.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
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Reviews Counted:210
Fresh:196
Rotten:14
Average Rating:8.2/10
Consensus: Visually dazzling and emotionally resonant, Slumdog Millionaire is a film that's both entertaining and powerful.
Theatrical Release:Nov 12, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $141,243,551
Synopsis: British director Danny Boyle takes another intriguing career turn with this heartfelt underdog tale. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a street kid (or "slumdog") who has landed an appearance on India's... British director Danny Boyle takes another intriguing career turn with this heartfelt underdog tale. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a street kid (or "slumdog") who has landed an appearance on India's version of the hit TV game show WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Jamal exceeds expectations on the show, and the producers alert the police after they become suspicious of his methods. The young contestant is subsequently arrested and is interrogated at the hands of a nameless police inspector (played by Bollywood star Irfan Khan). As the interrogation proceeds, Boyle tells Jamal's story through harrowing flashbacks that both show the terrible poverty of Mumbai and help explain how he knew the answers to the MILLIONAIRE questions. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is a tightly woven story that has been expertly edited into shape. The contrast between Jamal's upbringing and his chance of escaping it on the show are adeptly juxtaposed. Mumbai is portrayed as a place of terrifying poverty and unforgettable brutality, and Jamal and his brother get into a never-ending succession of challenging situations. But the way Boyle ties together Jamal's life experiences with his answers on the show is quite brilliant, and the film really does run the full gamut of emotions as we see him growing up, falling in love, coming close to death, and teetering on the brink of escaping from his terrible predicament. The film belongs to Boyle's cast, who are mostly unknown outside of India. Patel, in particular, gives a startlingly mature performance that audiences are likely to remember long after the credits role on this affecting feature. [More]
Starring: Dev Patel, Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Madhur Mittal
Starring: Dev Patel, Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto
Director: Danny Boyle
Director: Danny Boyle
Screenwriter: Simon Beaufoy
Producer: Christian Colson
Composer: A.R. Rahman
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Release:
Mar 31, 2009
Reviews for Slumdog Millionaire
It's a joyous, moving, living work that propels Boyle to the forefront of filmmakers working today.
we may feel somewhat bamboozled by the beguilingly colourful ride this film takes us on... but there is also a more real, altogether less salubrious Indian history on offer here for those who have eyes to see.
Most fairy tales are rooted first in nightmares, and if this story is any indication, there are plenty of those haunting the people of Mumbai.
Compelling and moving, bitter sweet and haunting, it's one of the best films of the year. Any year.
It's a shame that Boyle and Beaufoy toss aside all innovation in order to bind the final half-hour into a straightjacket of rigid formula plotting ... Still, three-quarters of a stellar movie is nothing to sneer at.
Danny Boyle has hit the jackpot with this wonderfully uplifting rags-to-riches story that has so much of everything, I felt as though I had won 20 million rupees myself. Above all, it's a love story, but also a story of survival
Like Mumbai, Slumdog pulses and throbs with raw, unadulterated life and the hope for a better Bombay, today. It's brilliant.
However improbable those circumstances get, Boyle and writer Simon Beaufoy (who adapted a novel by Vikas Swarup) keep us rooting for Jamal Malik to slay his dragons.
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.
It’s a diverting yarn, one pulsing with unexpected sights and sounds. Sometimes you’d swear you can smell this movie.
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.
At times, it feels somewhat schematic and overloaded. But the spirit of the thing -- both the narrative and the filmmaking -- is undeniable.
Slumdog Millionaire bursts with life, delighting, shocking and constantly engaging through lively visuals and the rags-to-maybe-riches adventures of a young man who travels from the slums to the hot seat of the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.
A kaleidoscope of multiplicity -- romance, memoir, coming-of-age, sibling rivalry, gangsterism -- accompanied by trains, always trains, carrying us in, around and through this masterpiece.
Patel is likable as Jamal, and Kapoor and Khan are terrific as always.
Its social realism is a far cry from the escapist fare created by the Bollywood fantasy factory, but the percussive score by Bollywood veteran A.R. Rahman and a rousing dance number finale add cultural specificity and vibrancy.
[A] taut, tense and witty tale of human tragedy and triumphant humanity set against the sweep of modern India.
An unapologetic modern fairy tale ... The construct is so appealing, it's almost instantly classic.
With a good feel for environment as character, Boyle brings his customary vitality -- throbbing music, jaunty editing, showy cinematography -- and an aptly, rousingly silly Bollywood-style dance number for the closing credits.
Latest News for Slumdog Millionaire
June 09, 2009:
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy Move to Maximum City ![]()
Danny Boyle will be staying in Bombay -- and reuniting with "Slumdog Millionaire" writer Simon Beaufoy -- for his next project, an adaptation of the non-fiction book "Maximum... More...
May 05, 2009:
2009 MTV Movie Awards Nominations Announced ![]()
The nominations for the 2009 MTV Movie Awards have been announced, with "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Twilight" each earning nominations in six categories. More...
March 31, 2009:
Five Favorite Films with Slumdog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor
Slumdog Millionaire's American audiences were enticed to watch by the name of director Danny Boyle or the movie's kinetic exploration of an exotic, far-away underbelly. In... More...
March 30, 2009:
RT on DVD: Exclusive Slumdog Millionaire Clip, Seven Pounds, and The Matrix 10th Anniversary Blu-ray
Jai Ho it up with the DVD debut of Danny Boyle's multiple Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire! It's also your week to catch films you might have missed in theaters, from... More...
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