Slumdog Millionaire
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Danny Boyle
Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Rajendranath Zutshi
Fox Home Entertainment
Release date: March 31, 2009

Life and times are tough right now, well, at least for some. Director Danny Boyle realizes this and appoints himself commander in chief as he ventures out to satisfy and revitalize the crippled and worn hearts of America. Recent years past have seen the likes of violent films with no redeeming qualities and they were received with awards (The Departed and No Country for Old Men). Kudos to the Academy for singling out this crowd-pleaser that was head-and-shoulders above the frail and weightless competition, the eight academy awards it walked away with, including Best Picture, are rightfully earned.

Though the film takes place in both old India and new, Bombay and Mumbai, there’s no questioning Boyle’s film is something of an international phenomenon. Not complacent with fixing the hearts of Americans, he creates a film that wants to embrace the entire world. When a film finds itself with a beating heart, like Slumdog Millionaire does, there isn’t any questioning involving its emotional magnificence.

Surviving what the slums of India heaves, hatred, poverty, and desperation, is human hope, doing its best to prevail against forces that don’t want individuals to succeed.

Slumdog Millionaire
Directed by Danny Boyle & Loveleen Tandan
Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan
Rated R
Release Date: November 12, 2008 (limited)

Poor Indian teenager Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is just one question away from winning the grand prize on India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. On the eve of show’s taping, a police inspector takes Jamal in on suspicion of cheating. Through a series of flashbacks, the inspector and moviegoers are treated to Jamal’s life story, from growing up in the slums of Mumbai, India, with his brother Salim to meeting and then losing his soulmate Latika (Freida Pinto). As his story unfolds, moviegoers find out why an uneducated 18-year-old with no interest in becoming rich ends up on Millionaire and just how does he know the answers for all those questions.

Written by Simon Beaufroy (The Full Monty) and based on the book Q and A by Vikas Swarup, Slumdog Millionaire is a prime example of a movie with just about everything going for it. A love story with an Oliver Twist sensibility, the movie is sweet and sentimental and not afraid to show it. Even cheesy lines cannot hold this flick down. When asked by his soulmate Latika what they would live on if they would run away, Jamal responds with confidence “Love.” Yes, it is terribly naive (or perhaps we are too jaded?) for anyone to believe such a thing but Jamal makes you believe it. When he delivers the line, it is not the fact that you believe what he says that makes root for him, but the fact that he believes it so strongly that you can’t help but root for him.