Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
How is it that Danny Boyle can bounce from 28 Days Later to Millions to Sunshine to this?
Half issues film and half schmaltzy romance, it ends with a kiss but opens with torture. Jamal (Dev Patel et al) is winning Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and it's inconceivable that a slumdog -- the lowest of the low, a boy raised from the slums of Mumbai to the lofty heights of call-centre tea-lady -- could do so well.
Flashbacks reveal how he knows what he knows, generally linked to sites of trauma: religious violence, police abuse, child slavery. Along the way, Jamal's life unfolds, co-starring brother Salim (Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala et al) and fellow victim turned childhood sweetheart Latika ( Freida Pinto et al).
Does it reflect poorly on me that the film's first half, a colourful, violent excursion into Mumbai, seemed like brilliance, while the second half, wending its slow way towards happy resolution, did not? Jamal's child's-eye view is bittersweet; his adult view is barely-convincing maudlin melodrama.
Engaging and entertaining for what it is, but ultimately that isn't much.