Maybe I should have seen this when everyone else did in order to be infected with the “best. movie. ever!” frenzy.

Instead I watched it last night (Feb 2010) and found it, well, meh. A pretty decent movie but I certainly don’t understand all the hype surrounding it.

Also, how is it that Dev Patel gets top billing? I feel it was the younger children that told most of the story with brief glimpses of him interspersed throughout the film.

It is certainly worth a watch, just don’t let the hype raise your expectations or you will be disappointed.

I’m guessing all the award-willing hype didn’t help me love this, but I just found it more than a little disturbing. Uplifting movie of the year? Well, yeah – the story of the call centre ‘chaiwalla’ revealing how various antics from his life answer all the questions on a game show is great. The overly soppy lost-love-of-life element – yeah, I can see that. But I can’t say I really enjoyed a movie that involved abject poverty, murder, mutilation, child prostitution and slavery, torture – it was a vile slice of a vile life: something that worked in trainspotting, but not something I could sit happily with when it involved kids and far too much real life.

The first time I started watching this I turned it off after a few minutes – I jumped to conclusions and thought it was going to be another depressing movie. A few weeks later, I tried watching it again and am SO glad I stuck with it. I immediately got sucked into the storyline and found myself fascinated with the life of the young boys and their struggle to get by. Not to mention, this is a terrific love story!

After studying this movie at school, and watching it several times, i can safely say that this is an amazingly clever movie! Danny Boyle has inserted little things that link everything together. There are a few things that don’t get closed but hey, thats how life works! I recommend this for everyone! It is well worth the awards.

http://filmeyeballsbrain.com/2009/01/05/danny-boyle-slumdog-millionaire-2008/

Seeing that this film has won basically every accolade known to humankind in 2008, I’m actually underwhelmed, especially considering how this is from the man who directed “Shallow Grave” and “Trainspotting”. This time, he covers the life of a boy in India, one who competes for several million rupees in a TV game-show. His life flashes before our eyes as he is apprehended post-show, suspected of cheating, while we witness him growing up. Love, loyalty and the despicable caste-system is in focus here. I think the film was coherent, at times nearly made me cry (which isn’t hard, though) but sorely missed any type of avant-garde and even – I think – a fresh view on love between the main character and his girl, which was quite supernatural in a bad way. As a collection of entertainment, this film is good, yet slightly disappointing. Including M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” into the soundtrack helped, though.

This movie gave me so much insight into life in the slums of Mumbai ~ I had no idea. It really socked me. The movie was quite different from the book, however. I absolutely loved the book, which I read before seeing the movie. The movie really gave me a visual picture of what it’s really like, though. The music was awesome, too. I really enjoyed it. I suggest reading the book and watching the movie both.

A beautifully crafted film…much more poignant than I had expected. Director Danny Boyle squeezed every drop of drama out of the script and his young actors. Lots of wonderful insights into street life in Mumbai and the price of “success.” Excellent cinematography and score. Worth watching again, and again.

Oscar winners tend to bore me. I could not get past the first 20 minutes of No Country for Old Men. Million Dollar Baby was very predictable. And I don’t even want to mention Titanic.

Slumdog Millionaire is a nice exception though in my dislike of Oscars. The chase scene at the start drew me in right away, by the great visuals but mostly the fantastic soundtrack. I loved the setup, telling his story by the questions on who wants to be a millionaire.

The story is unpolished. There’s some ends of it that aren’t worked out in detail. The relationship of the two brothers, what exactly happened to Latika… Sometimes that kind of stuff bothers me in movies, but in this case I actually liked it. In life you don’t get all the answers anyway. And it leaves some stuff up to the imagination. Two hours well spend.

What a remarkable way to tell a love story. As with all Boyle films, Slumdog is heavy with amazing shots and snazzy editing. There are elegant transitions here and an overall rhythm that sweeps you into (and along with) the action on screen. And of course, the soundtrack is simply perfect.

The performances are just as perfect, with endearing actors that swiftly stole my heart.

This film absolutely deserved the Oscar, as did Mr. Boyle.

The first two acts of this film are nearly flawless, with the stunning visuals melding perfectly with the soaring score. Think Oliver Twist in Mumbai. Two musical montages by A.R. Rahman and M.I.A. will especially leave a lump in your throat.

I think the film would have been better served if it had not ended up focusing on the love story. I would have rather Jamal’s love for Latika been a subplot, and his relationship with his brother given equal importance.

See my full review here.

It’s a visual treat and never dull but I was left wanting more – particularly more depth in characterisation of the main characters. The film was very plot-driven and the characters rather broadly drawn as heroes or villains so I found it hard to really empathise with their travails. But the film is (as Dr Mark notes) a fable so perhaps I simply had the wrong expectations.