Sunday, December 21, 2008

Slumdog Millionaire: B


Slumdog Millionaire, originally uploaded by Cine Fanatico.

Scott and I saw Slumdog Millionaire (IMDB.com) on Saturday. I usually like Danny Boyle's movies. Even last year's sci-fi Sunshine has grown on me. Millions had a similar meaning-of-money themes as Slumdog, but was much more stylized and saccharine story.

Slumdog is a much darker movie with disturbing scenes. Like those annoying TV commercials pleading viewers to "sponsor" a third world child in poverty, it was frustrating and disturbing seeing the lowest of the low living conditions of the children in the movie. The movie touches on many themes such as Indian call center workers learning to sound Western, annoying 'merican tourists wanting to see the "real" India, religious violence, absent fathers, torcher, organized crime, etc. There are so many disturbing issues that I found myself clinging to the bright "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" storyline. One of the questions I was left pondering is: Does a million dollars really make-up for someone who has lived such a traumatic and harsh life?

The overall story was very predictable making the two-hour length about 30 minutes too long. There was a nice surprise (or joke) during the credits which lightens-up an otherwise depressing movie.

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