Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) dir. Danny Boyle

starring: Dev Patel, Irrfan Kahn, Freida Pinto

Beginning on the polished set of the Indian version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire" Slumdog, quickly subverts your expectations of what a film steeped in flashback could be. To the producers it seems improbable that this boy with no formal education could possibly gotten all the way to the final question. He is pulled in to be questioned by the police chief, Irrfan Kahn. An astute actor, Kahn always brings a quite truth to all his performances. We especially like his brief spot in "The Darjeeling Limited."

During the questioning we learn how Jamal's own life experiences provide him with these answers. Usually during multi-actor performed roles there is a disconnect. But not in Slumdog, the child actors performances blend seamlessly with Patel's. The dichotomy provided between the slick Millionaire set and the streets of Mumbai infuse the film with a frenetic energy that is hard to shake. It is this energy harnessed and focused by Boyle, which allows the audience to become invested in Jamal's fate. Through these gritty hyper realistic flashback experiences we too understand how the knowledge gleamed from these events is burned on Jamal's retina's for all eternity. In addition to the fantastic storytelling, we loved the bookmarking of Latika's final yellow scarf to her soiled childhood dress.