Slumdog Millionaire

Can’t rave enough about Slumdog Millionaire, the new film from Englishman Danny Boyle. It’s in the theatres now and the film begs to be seen on the big screen. It’s a cinematic masterpiece that sucks you in from its opening tortuous moments to its redemptive finale. The film focuses on a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. As he stands on the verge of winning the show's top prize, the film delves into his traumatic upbringing, his attempts to rise from abject poverty, and his pursuit of love at all costs.

Boyle has always been a master of combining substance and style as evidenced by Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and even 28 Days Later. With Slumdog he ups the ante. The film clearly has grand aspirations. It’s an epic story that mixes the high drama and sweeping romance of Golden Age Hollywood, 70s Bollywood plotlines, along with the grit and the grime of tough-as-nails gangster movies. Amazingly, Slumdog manages to be simultaneously both epic and intimate, which is a rare treat in the movies these days.

It’s boldly edited and visually stunning, continually finding beauty in its squalid locales. Those elements, along with the propulsive soundtrack, root you to your seat and create an utterly unique universe in which the film operates. The story structure is also inventive, using flashbacks in a unique way to create an added air of mystery to the film.

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as seeing an absolutely captivating movie on the big screen. One that leaves you saying, “Now that’s cinema!” Slumdog Millionaire delivers that feeling and then some.