A Review of “Slumdog Millionaire”
CAPTION: How long will it be before Dev Patel and Freida Pinto bust out a Bollywood-style dance number?
Not Even Bizarrely Plausible, 8 December 2008
Author: David H. Schleicher from New Jersey, USA
A young call center worker from Mumbai with a rough-and-tumble past named Jamal (a likable Dev Patel) becomes a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in the hopes that his true love (the beautiful Freida Pinto) will see him on TV and come back to him for good. Much of Slumdog Millionaire is done in flashbacks as the audience learns the personal story behind each of the questions. For some strange reason the filmmakers want us to think a person like Jamal wouldn’t normally know the answers to these random trivia questions, but he does because of his unique life story, see? Well, it’s a mildly interesting central conceit that quickly falls apart. At one point, a policeman questioning Jamal remarks that his story is “bizarrely plausible.” I wish I could say I felt the same.
It seems to be a trend this year for movies to contain wildly shifting tones. This is the type of film that thinks it’s endearing and cute when a little Indian boy is given no choice but to dive into a pit of raw sewage to get a chance to meet a movie star, and then tries to be gritty and deadly serious when a man takes out an orphan’s eyes with a spoon so the kid will make more money on the street as a blind urchin. Combining elements of Oliver Twist, Romeo and Juliet and City of God, Danny Boyle and his co-director Loveleen Tandan create a flimsy mosaic of convention and post-modern pastiche. With its sometimes fascinating look at Mumbai and its strange juxtaposition of modernity and immense wealth run amok with the biggest slums on earth, Slumdog Millionaire is not without some intense and keenly interesting vignettes. However, the paper-thin script full of lazy characterizations and arbitrary moments leads to a painfully predictable denouement with a silly message about Destiny.
Boyle is a director whose style has run out of steam. All of his trademarks are here: the shoddy editing; the shaky, grainy digital photography; the hyper-bright lighting that washes out most colors and makes whites and yellows blinding. Why is it I always feel like I’m getting an eye exam when I sit through his films? It left me with a headache that wasn’t helped by the loud soundtrack. Any compelling moment, like the train ride that ends at the Taj Mahal or the early chase scene through the slums of Mumbai, I credit to Boyle’s co-director Tandan.
Slumdog Millionaire is an energetic film I desperately wanted to like. Had it a sharper focus and harder edge that more thoroughly explored just one of the millions of enthralling stories that exist in cities like Mumbai, it could’ve been a rousing success. Instead, with its slapdash enthusiasm that feebly tries to thread some meaning into the barely plausible tale, I’m left thinking that Mumbai deserves a far better film.
Originally Published on the Internet Movie Database:
Thanks for the appreciation! I love your review of Slumdog Millionaire. I’m curious. How did you find your way to my site?
-phillygrrl
Phillygrrl, I was searching WordPress for other reviews of Slumdog and it lead me to your post about the film. –DHS
phillygrrl
December 9, 2008 at 11:28 am
Oh God, David, I couldn’t disagree with you more, and virtually the entire critical establishment (including our very best critics) also disagree with you. This is not only an eclectic, viseral and full-bodied cultural and sociological examination that ranks among the best ever set in India, but it’s also one of the year’s best films, for me ranking with WALL-E, THE VISITOR, DEAR ZACHARY, SYNCHEDOCHE, NEW YORK, THE EDGE OF HEAVEN and THE POOL as one of the best films of the year without doubt. The film’s music, editing and performances are first-rate and it lends complexity to the sometimes breathless and electrifying narrative. I cannot believe you saw the same film as I did, and I can’t fathom you coming to those conclusions.
Still, we are good friends, and I will continue to be enriched by everything you say, and by your beautifull-written reviews. I wrote my own piece on this weeks back, and as I said, came to different conclusions. But this is what sharing opinions is all about. Your frankness is and will always be an asset and welcome thing.
Sam, I certainly recognize I am in the minority here, but for me the film was all flash hiding a flimsy central storyline. I didn’t feel I got to know any character or any place in the film in depth, though visually there were some fascinating shots/scenes of Mumbai. Thanks as always for voicing your thoughts. I know many out there feel the same as you do regarding this film. –DHS
Sam Juliano
December 12, 2008 at 10:45 am
I have similar thoughts about this year’s most critically darling film. However, I think the “wildly shifting tones” contribute greatly to the upbeat tempo of the film and work well to keep the flashbacks explosive and satisfying. It only detracts from the film in the climax when the Boyle wraps up his story far too neatly for a narrative that focuses so much on failures and disappointment. I felt like it was a train on course to movie greatness that drastically veered off course at its most important moment.
I was also completely mesmerized by Salim’s last sequence on screen, even though it may have been a little campy…
It’s been really great reading through some of your stuff, I’m just starting out on the blogging front and am really impressed by the intellectual depth and overall comprehensiveness of your site. Keep up the good work, and check out my Slumdog review if you have a second!
http://fivedollarsodas.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/an-ending-more-in-tune-with-tone-would-do/
First, thanks for visiting my blog and an even bigger thanks for the kind words. I’ll be sure to check your blog regularly as your posts are the type of in depth and thoughtful reviews I like to read. It’s always interesting reading what other people think about the same film.
I had forgotten about the final Salim scene and I find it interesting you should point that out. Oddly, he was the only character that had any kind of development, though it was done with a hacksaw (he’s good–he’s bad–he’s a jokester–he’s bad again–wait, he’s sorry for what he did). His final scene was so cringe-worthy in my mind (and really made no sense other than as some kind of in-your-face visual—oh, look at him in the tub of money!) that I had wiped it from my mind. –DHS
Five Dollar Sodas
December 24, 2008 at 2:08 am