Here we are. We've reached the last of the Best Picture nominees and the odds on favorite to win the Oscar. "Slumdog Millionaire" has basically swept the top spot in nearly every awards program this season and all of it leads to this Saturday night where the film is poised to walk away with the little, gold, bald man. Let's take a look at the film and discover why this particular Bollywood production has been able to climb the mountain and plant it's flag at the top.
From IMDB.com, a brief synopsis: A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.
The above entry is the basic outline of the film and we end up following the main character Jamal Malik from early childhood to early manhood. Throughout each flashback montage Jamal is joined by his older brother Salim who wishes to take care of his wiser younger brother in any manner, but is pushed farther to the dark side as he realizes that though he needs this self-validation, his brother may not need his help to survive.
The drive of the film is centered around a young girl named Latika that survived the slums with Jamal and Salim. It is the obsession Jamal feels to keep the group together that leads the boys into each adventure. As each flashback is told, we get closer to real-time events where Jamal is being interrogated in one scene and in another participating in the game show. Eventually, we reach the convergence of flashbacks and real-time that propels the story to it's climax: can and more importantly how will Jamal find Latika, is it possible for Salim to turn from the dark side in redemption, has Latika resigned to her fate or will she seek the sun and Jamal?
Let me start the performance section by saying that the best acting in this movie comes from the boys who portray Jamal and Salim at the various ages. Everyone of these young actors pulls off great performances. Obviously, natural talent has much to do with this, but I would also heap a lot of credit on director Danny Boyle for getting the right emotions and actions out of his actors. Thankfully, the majority of this film is spent watching these children grow up.
The last third is where I find the performances slump as we encounter the three leads on the verge of adulthood. Dev Patel has been garnering much attention as the older version of Jamal, and I confess that his performance during the torture and interrogation scenes are well done, but he is little more than a slack-jawed boy during the rest of his scenes. I found myself staring at him during the game show scenes wanting to yell at the screen to "DO SOMETHING!" That for me brought the whole thing down a notch. How can you believe the emotion of the story if your lead actor doesn't know how to show little more than sarcasm and a constant look of being dumbfound?
The elder actors playing Salim and Latika, Mudhar Mittal and Freida Pinto respectively, do a slightly better job but still don't rise to the level that their younger counterparts show us. Mittal as Salim reminds me vaguely of Al Pacino's character in "Scarface." That's obviously a stretch, but it may have been character arc and a more visual aspect than anything else. Freida Pinto's screen time is spent largely in a frightened state and to the actress' credit we do feel her peril as we watch events unfold. The problem is, the other emotion she's supposed to feel. I'll get into that little later, but my main concern is this: where is it coming from? I believe it's false and I'll speak to that at the end.
The supporting actors are strong in their roles here. We have Iirfan Khan as the police inspector who turns in a convincing role akin to his counterpart in the movie "The Usual Suspects." A slumlord mobster invoking "Miami Vice" played by Mahesh Manjrekar is a convincing dirtbag and Ankur Vikal turns in a diabolical role as king of the beggars completely channeling classic Dickens character Fagin. Finally, we have Anil Kapoor in the role of Prem, the host of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." I swear to you, dear reader, there was actual cheese flowing from the screen. I had to physically pick my feet from the floor as not to mess my shoes. The supporting cast in general fulfilled their role nicely and the only thing I would tell you is to watch for outward changes in attitude as the story evolves.
In the end, the story is fantastic and the framing of the narrative is great with the interrogation and game show scenes. Given that alone, I understand every award win and know that the Academy will award this film with a Best Picture Oscar. Now I'll tell you why I can't give this film a full score. Love. Love is given as the driving feeling for Jamal to pursue Latika throughout this picture. How can that be? We are never given any scenes where this is shown to bud. Love must be alluded to at least in a film, realized, nurtured, longed for. How can you love someone when you've spent your entire life trying to find them? I couldn't buy it in the end. Loyalty I would understand. A kinship certainly. Lust even. "Slumdog Millionaire" receives 4.5 lifelines out of a possible 5 lifelines from this reviewer. If this were California they'd be divorced in three years, he'd be splitting any winnings and kicked out of the house.
I'm not even going to go into the spectacle of the "Thrilleresque" song and dance routine at the end.
I'm just saying,
Elijah
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