Who is the Audience for This Movie?

People who like dramas that give you an intimate look into a characters life.

What I Liked About This Movie

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was a hit show a long time ago. Making a movie that utilizes familiarity of it must have been a tough sell. Fortunately it is one of those shows that if you saw it even once on TV you most likely will not forget it. What makes its use so special in Slumdog is the story structure wrapped around it. When the uneducated boy is asked a question he relies solely on events in his life to answer it. It is clever way to utilize flashbacks and get the audience to really feel for the situation the boy is in. While still on the topic of the flashbacks the sheer amount of child actors used in them is impressive. Utilizing untrained child actors is no easy task and they are amazingly good they in this movie.

If I had to sum up the look of Slumdog in as few words as possible I would say it is vibrant and busy. The editing is fast but it makes sense because as the story goes along you really get to see the environment the young boy grew up in. He is forced to grow up quick in deadly environments with incredibly large populations that are condensed in what we in the west would consider small areas. Slumdog also utilizes subtitles in an incredibly creative way.

What Didn’t Work For Me

Slumdog’s editing style is interesting but at times it is taken a step too far leaving the movie with an overly glossy style that reminds me of music videos. I mention music videos because at numerous points high energy music kicks in and dampens the emotionality of key scenes. The only other thing that really bothered me was the host of the Millionaire show. His performance felt really boring to me it seemed like he was not giving it his all. As a TV host his character should be very outgoing yet he seems really toned down in the majority of the scenes he is in.

Should You Watch This Movie?

It’s worth seeing I just don’t feel it should have won Best Picture (Oscars 2008).

My Rating (Out of 13)