Slumdog Millionaire

I wasn't going to review Slumdog Millionaire, some movies are just so highly publicized that it's a waste of time. But keeping quiet has never been my style.

The Oscar winner for Best Picture, I can't imagine that there is a soul on the planet who hasn't heard of this movie. But for those of you soulless creatures, take a gander...




In a nutshell, the movie follows Jamal and Salim Malik, two brothers that grew up in the slums of Bombay/Mumbai. Jamal is a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and while breezing through the show he is accused of cheating. It's a concoction of fabulous story telling, gritty slum life, violence, and love. Director Danny Boyle knocked it out of the park with this one.

As I eluded to previously, the Oscar win for Best Picture, combined with 7 other Academy Awards tells the story of the success. And a success it was, however I found it to be a bit overrated. It is a really good film, but I didn't find it to be a GREAT film.

It hit all of the emotional elements, but it just didn't wow me with any particular one of them. I haven't seen a few of the other Best Picture nominees yet, but I can only assume that either none of them were great, or this one just tugged at the right heart strings of the committee members.

The blu-ray transfer is actually quite good. There were a few moments of significant grain, however most of the 1080p was impressive. The blu-ray really stood out with the DTS-HD Master Audio mix. A good soundtrack and more sound effects than I anticipated made it a really nice listen, much more so than I expected from this type of movie.

Oh, and Freida Pinto is a rising star. Incredibly attractive with "the look" that will take her a long way. I expect to see a lot more of her, and I expect her skills to keep increasing.















This is a very good film that is well worth the watch. 4 stars, but I don't think it's a repeater.