'Slumdog Millionaire'
Rating: (3 STARS)
BY RAFER GUZMÁN |[EMAIL PROTECTED] 12, 2008
Trivia
can be a great socio-economic equalizer, putting the well-educated on
the same footing as the self-taught. Ken Jennings, the long-reigning
"Jeopardy!" champion, didn't go to Harvard but to Brigham Young University, and
those guys who keep winning the quiz-nite kitty at your
local pub probably aren't a bunch of summa cum laudes, either.
Attitudes are slightly different in caste-conscious India, at least according
to " Slumdog Millionaire,"
in which a teenage orphan from Mumbai raises suspicions by nailing
every answer on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." The film opens with
Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) being beaten and electric-shocked by two cops
who demand to know: How did a lowborn urchin learn so much about
history, poetry and foreign currency?
The answer plays out in flashbacks, question by question, in this entertaining
and ingenious yarn from director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting") and screenwriter
Simon Beaufoy ("The Full Monty"),
based on the novel "Q & A" by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup. It's
the story of one boy's colorful, sometimes violent education in the
filthy streets of the former Bombay, known for good reason as "maximum
city." Each narrow escape sears a certain factoid into Jamal's brain -
the maker of the pistol pointing at his face, for instance - that later
comes in handy.
The film's first half is its most memorable, in which Jamal and his
older brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal), played by younger actors, survive
various horrors and develop opposing personalities: Salim turns cold
and unscrupulous, while Jamal dreams of finding his long-lost
sweetheart, Latika (Frieda Pinto). The plot wobbles slightly with the
introduction of some generic gangsters and the "Millionaire" host (Anil
Kapoor), whose motives are never quite clear, but it's impossible not
to root for Jamal as he nears his ultimate goal. He's an appealing
underdog who represents an ideal of equality as well as a fantasy of
success.
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PLOT An uneducated orphan in India raises suspicions by winning on "Who Wants
to Be a Millionaire"
CAST Dev Patel, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto.
LENGTH 2:01.
PLAYING AT Angelika Film Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Manhattan. Opening
next month on Long Island.
BOTTOM LINE An entertaining, ingenious yarn, despite a few loose ends.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/ny-etenttwo5922188nov12a,0,6544640.story
