Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Oscar Winner!

"Romantic, action-packed and always held together by an intriguing social conscience, Slumdog Millionaire is a rapturous crowd pleaser.  Bob Mondello, NPR
"Director Danny Boyle's riveting and kaleidoscopic tale...is exquisitely adapted to the screen by Simon Beaufoy.  Claudia Puig, USA Today
"Danny Boyle's finest since "Trainspotting." In fact, it's the best British/Indian gameshow-based romance of the millennium.  Ian Nathan, Empire
"Slumdog Millionaire is the film world's first globalized masterpiece.  Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
"Four stars simply aren't enough for [Slumdog Millionaire], which just may be the most entertaining movie I've ever labeled a masterpiece...  Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"...a movie that rocks and rolls, that transports, startles, delights, shocks, seduces. A movie that is, quite simply, great.  Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Driven by fantastic energy and a torrent of vivid images of India old and new, Slumdog Millionaire is a blast.  Todd McCarthy, Variety

Editor's Note British director Danny Boyle takes another intriguing career turn with this heartfelt underdog tale. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a street kid (or "slumdog") who has landed an appearance on India's version of the hit TV game show WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Jamal exceeds expectations on the show, and the producers alert the police after they become suspicious of his methods. The young contestant is subsequently arrested and is interrogated at the hands of a nameless police inspector (played by Bollywood star Irfan Khan). As the interrogation proceeds, Boyle tells Jamal's story through harrowing flashbacks that both show the terrible poverty of Mumbai and help explain how he knew the answers to the MILLIONAIRE questions. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is a tightly woven story that has been expertly edited into shape. The contrast between Jamal's upbringing and his chance of escaping it on the show are adeptly juxtaposed. Mumbai is portrayed as a place of terrifying poverty and unforgettable brutality, and Jamal and his brother get into a never-ending succession of challenging situations. But the way Boyle ties together Jamal's life experiences with his answers on the show is quite brilliant, and the film really does run the full gamut of emotions as we see him growing up, falling in love, coming close to death, and teetering on the brink of escaping from his terrible predicament. The film belongs to Boyle's cast, who are mostly unknown outside of India. Patel, in particular, gives a startlingly mature performance that audiences are likely to remember long after the credits role on this affecting feature.

	Madhur Mittal
	Dev Patel
	Anil Kapoor
	Irrfan Khan
	Freida Pinto
	A.R. Rahman - Composer
	Paul Smith - Executive Producer
	Christian Colson - Producer
	Anthony Dod Mantle - Director of Photography
	Loveleen Tandan - Co-Director
	Vikas Swarup - Source Writer
	Tessa Ross - Executive Producer
	Simon Beaufoy - Screenwriter
	Danny Boyle - Director

Box Office
5 stars out of 5 -- "The kinetic, visually arresting drama, touching, sometimes funny and often horrifying, marks a new high in Boyle's career as he explores India's political, economic and social framework through the prism of a coming-of-age story." 11/01/2008 p.82

Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "The whoosh of action and romance pulls you in, but it's the bruised characters who hold you there....The no-bull honesty of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE hits you hard. It's the real deal..." 11/13/2008 97

USA Today
4 stars out of 4 -- "The exhilarating and sweeping SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is one in in a million....With dazzling, magical realism and vigorous storytelling, the film has an enchanting power, fusing a fairy tale quality with gritty realism." 11/14/2008

Film Comment
"Boyle sets pulses quickening not through social critique but with bright colors, nifty camerawork, lots of running, and lots of music." 11/01/2008 p.69

Entertainment Weekly
"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is brash and lively and compulsively watchable....It's when Jamal is 18, and played by Dev Patel, that the movie takes on a touch of gravitas..." -- Grade: B 11/21/2008 p.97

Chicago Sun-Times
"Danny Boyle's SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE hits the ground running. This is a breathless, exciting story, heartbreaking and exhilarating at the same time..." 11/11/2008

Rolling Stone
Ranked #2 in Rolling Stone's 'Movies Of The Year' -- "Movie love fills every frame of this rowdy beauty from director Danny Boyle." 01/08/2008 p.116

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Braiding Boyle's thrilling depiction of a teeming, steaming India and writer Simon Beaufoy's deft mixture of comedy, romance, drama and suspense, SLUMDOG is a near-total delight." 01/01/2009 p.52

Empire
5 stars out of 5 -- "At heart, this is Hollywood melodrama, Capra's wish-fulfilment parlayed into a new world....Thrillingly upbeat." 02/01/2009

ReelViews 9 of 10
Slumdog Millionaire comes from director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who fashion what is at heart a romance into a mystery and a thriller with Dickensian undertones. It's tough not to think of David Copperfield when we see the "orphanage" to which the film's main character is consigned during his youth. What's more, this filmmaking team has found a new and inventive way to approach the storyline that not only invigorates the material but adds a whole new layer to it. The result is magical and life affirming, and will enrapture those who are not scared away by the mention of "subtitles." For the record, the majority of the dialogue is in English, although there are lengthy segments during the film's first 40 minutes when characters speak in Hindi. The way in which Boyle handles the subtitles is playful and colorful, and entirely unlike what we're accustomed to see. This is a subtitle movie made with subtitle-phobes in mind...The film has all the elements necessary to make it a major winner in general release, and a dark horse Oscar contender. It's superbly acted, wonderfully photographed, and full of rich, unconventional location work. Dev Patel has us rooting for the shy, good-natured Jamal from the beginning...Some films keep viewers on the outside looking in, able to appreciate the production in technical terms but not on other, more basic levels. This is not the case with Slumdog Millionaire. Boyle's feature draws the viewer in, immersing him in a fast-moving, engaging narrative featuring a protagonist who is so likeable it's almost unfair. The movie has moments of heartbreak and tragedy but it is ultimately uplifting and contains pretty much all the instances an audience will want. Boyle has come a long way to get to this point from Shallow Grave and Trainspotting but, after experiencing the pleasure of Slumdog Millionaire, I'm glad it's a road he has elected to take. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" hits the ground running. This is a breathless, exciting story, heartbreaking and exhilarating at the same time, about a Mumbai orphan who rises from rags to riches on the strength of his lively intelligence. The film's universal appeal will present the real India to millions of moviegoers for the first time...By the real India, I don't mean an unblinking documentary like Louis Malle's "Calcutta" or the recent "Born Into Brothels." I mean the real India of social levels that seem to be separated by centuries...The India of Mother Teresa still exists. Because it is side-by-side with the new India, it is easily seen. People living in the streets. A woman crawling from a cardboard box. Men bathing at a fire hydrant. Men relieving themselves by the roadside...On the other hand, the world's largest middle class, mostly lower-middle, but all the more admirable. The India of "Monsoon Wedding." Millionaires. Mercedes-Benzes and Audis. Traffic like Demo Derby. Luxury condos. Exploding education. A booming computer segment. A fountain of medical professionals. Some of the most exciting modern English literature. A Bollywood to rival Hollywood..."Slumdog Millionaire" bridges these two Indias by cutting between a world of poverty and the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." It tells the story of an orphan from the slums of Mumbai who is born into a brutal existence. A petty thief, impostor and survivor, mired in dire poverty, he improvises his way up through the world and remembers everything he has learned...The film uses dazzling cinematography, breathless editing, driving music and headlong momentum to explode with narrative force, stirring in a romance at the same time. For Danny Boyle, it is a personal triumph. He combines the suspense of a game show with the vision and energy of "City of God" and never stops sprinting. - Roger Ebert