I have to say that I didn't really know what to except when I first sat down to watch "Slumdog Millionaire." But once I figured out the format within the first ten minutes, I said to myself, "Oh, I get it! This is really cool."
"Slumdog Millionaire" is, without a doubt, one of the best movies of the year. It begins with an Indian "slumdog," or someone in poverty, having reached the last question in the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". Since he's a "slumdog," the police suspect that he must have cheated.
However, the entire movie is him going through each and every question and explaining how he just happened to know the answer. This, in turn, tells the story of his life, which is mostly tragic, highlighted only by the girl with whom he is madly in love, Latika.
Dev Patel is wonderful as the "slumdog," named Jamal, and so is Freida Pinto, who plays Latika and is absolutely gorgeous. Even the child actors who play them as kids are delightful and talented.
What I especially love about this movie is that it illustrates a culture that is very underrepresented in Hollywood. I feel as though I truly learned something about India, especially when it came to the conditions of the poor.
However, while the movie may be depressing in this sense, there are also many moments which just bring a smile to your face. Basically, it's an educational film, comedy, drama, and romance all wrapped into one.
Oh, and there's a really cool full-cast dance number just for the heck of it at the end.
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