Posts: Movies and Television / Slumdog Millonaire

Directed by: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine)
Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto

I'm probably the last person on the planet to see this movie so this review seems somewhat moot. Since there's no review here, you are forced to read mine.

On the day that Dev Patel is about to win the grand prize on the Indian version of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire', he is kidnapped by the Mumbai Police and tortured to determine how he, a lowly dog from the slums with no formal education, would know the answer to such a wide variety of trivia. He reveals through flashback, a life of torture, hopelessness and longing. He survived with only his brother and a young girlfriend, Pinto, to lean on. As they grew, they either drifted or were torn apart by the streets, gangsters or their own shortcomings. Dev seems destined to win the grand prize, but the odds, police, gangsters, his brother, and even the game show host may prevail in preventing the win and his only chance of being with his lost love.

A superbly written story that I'm sad to think may have been better with another director. I don't think this should have won the Oscar over Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, and Milk which were all better made movies, but it was certainly worthy of nomination and I do enjoy a good love story. I'm interested to see if Dev Patel and Freida Pinto can carry their next movies without the hype of Oscar drowning them out.

4.5 out of 5 stars. A must see.