Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Directed by Danny Boyle. Starring Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Irrfan Khan, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Anjur Vikal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Rubina Ali. [R]

The story of poor Mumbai “slumdog” Jamal (Patel) is told through flashback while he’s a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” No one can believe how this uneducated young man is able to progress deep into the game (least of all the ominously-edged host, played by Kapoor in the film’s standout performance), but the events of Jamal’s life—a raft of Dickensian horrors and dubious contrivances—provide the clues, one after another. A class-conscious parade of ugliness, sorrow and pain, leavened by the occasional burst of humor, expressed through director Boyle’s unfiltered and restless urgency that struggles to make it all seem exhilarating (even romantic), before transitioning into a phony, feel-good fairy tale. Under the presumption that it’s building up to something special, the film is engrossing in fits and starts most of the way, but it misses “special” by a wide mark at the end—aside from the Bollywood-style dance number that plays beneath the end credits, the last twenty minutes or so are, scene by scene and line by line, thunderously predictable to the point of infuriation. Its eight Academy Award wins include Best Picture, Director, and Original Song (“Jai Ho” by A. R. Rahman and Gulzar Saab).

51/100