Slumdog Millionaire: A film review

If you haven't been too distracted by the tanking American economy, the sky rocketing unemployment rate, and global warming *cough*, you might have heard some hype surrounding a little movie called Slumdog Millionaire. I have to admit that I didn't really pay much heed to the hype at first. I knew that the story was set in India, and to be honest, I just don't have that much interest in India. Or in movies set in India. Sometimes that is how simple my decision making process can be. Sue me.

Anyway, after spending nearly the entire day inside the house on Sunday, Kelley and I were looking for a reason to get out. Kelley suggested a movie. Of course she wanted to see a chick flick, I believe it was He's Just Not That Into You, and I wanted to see something a little less damaging to my manliness. I was thinking more along the lines of The Wrestler or Gran Torino, and probably leaning more in my buddy Clint Eastwood's direction. Who can deny old Dirty Harry himself? (See previous blog entry)

Well, she wasn't going for either of those. Let's face it, Sunday's aren't good for violent and/or depressing movies. Anyway, that's how we see it. So we settled on the little flick about India.

We both read a quick little snippet about the movie, quickly got dressed, and hustled out the door to the Alamo Drafthouse.

I will say this, Slumdog Millionaire is not what I expected. Did it live up to the hype? I should say...yes. Do I think that the movie will change the world and that famine and poverty will cease because the movie is just that good? No.
Slumdog Millionaire is pretty simple, actually. It is a love story. But it is also a story about the intracacies of life. It's about decisions, and how they affect the life of the decision maker and those around him. And it's a movie about justice and redemption.

I'm simply not going to give my synopsis of the film. This is the internet, if you want to know the whole movie before you go see it you can go find that information. But not here. Some things should be experienced without much pretext.

I liked the film. I thought it was shot beautifully. I thought it was visceral. I thought it was sad. It made me laugh. And when I left the theater I felt a little more hope for the future of film, which I have lost quite a bit of faith in over the last few years (but that's a story for another blog entry).

Score: 4/5

Kirk out.