Winner of eight Academy Awards—including Best Picture—Slumdog Millionaire is a beguiling blend of Bollywood and Dickens that tells the wildly improbable but strangely exhilarating story of Mumbai orphan Jamal (played as an adult by Dev Patel), a reluctant petty thief and con artist who winds up competing on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Although the Oliver Twist-like hero garners national attention with his successful answers to increasingly difficult questions, local police suspect Jamal of cheating and subject him to a much harsher round of questioning than he received in front of the television audience. The interrogation becomes the framing device for Trainspotting director Danny Boyle's colorful tale, which uses extensive flashbacks as it intercuts scenes from Jamal's childhood and adolescence with snippets from his appearance on the quiz show and ill treatment by authorities. Of course, there's also romance in the form of Jamal's lifelong infatuation with childhood friend Latika (played by Frieda Pinto as an adult), who is now keeping company with the crime boss for whom Jamal's brother works. Dazzling cinematography combines with lively music to bring a Bollywood aesthetic to Slumdog Millionaire, which maintains a brisk tempo thanks to rat-a-tat editing. A delightfully disarming crowd-pleaser, this is highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (the first with director Danny Boyle and star Dev Patel; the second with producer Christian Colson and writer Simon Beaufoy), deleted scenes (34 min.), a 23-minute “Slumdog Dreams” making-of featurette, a “Slumdog Cutdown” montage of the film (6 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the exclusive Indian short film “Manijha” by Rahi Anil Barve, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the “Toilet Scene” (5 min.), and a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for this Best Picture winner and audience fave.] (E. Hulse)
Slumdog Millionaire
Fox, 120 min., R, DVD: $29.98, Blu-ray: $39.99, Mar. 31 Volume 24, Issue 3
Slumdog Millionaire
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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