Jai Ho!

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Movie #2: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Oscar wins: 8- Best Picture, Best Director (Boyle), Best Adapted Screenplay (Beaufoy), Best Original Score (A.R. Rahman), Best Original Song ("Jai Ho"), Best Sound Mixing,  Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing
Nominations: Best Song ("O Saya"), Best Sound Editing
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Simon Beaufoy from the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup
Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal
Length: 121 minutes
Budget: $15.1 million

I still cannot believe that this film won the hearts of so many viewers and the Academy. I use to complain about this fact, but when I watched the film this time around I truly enjoyed it. My main complaint remains, though: it's so hokey! It's a very cheery, upbeat, colorful film with touching sentimentality and many "awww how cute!" moments. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just not the typical Best Picture film of recent years.
 
Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamal (Patel), a chai wallah ("tea server," which I had to look up!) from the slums of Mumbai, India who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and, after making it to the final question, is accused of cheating and arrest. What follows is an interrogation where Jamal, essentially, tells the story of his life, and that of his brother Salim (Mittal) and the love of his life, Latika (Pinto), in an attempt to explain how he knew all of the answers.
 
Just like The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire is a technical masterpiece. The camera work and techniques that Boyle puts to work here are amazing, and he creates a beautiful film. The writing, although, as I said, hokey at times, is very well done and a terrific script is constructed for the film. As for the acting, Patel, Mittal, and Pinto give solid performances as the present-day "three musketeers," but the best performances come from the children. Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (as Jamal) and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (as Salim) give REMARKABLE performances through the first half of the film, and they are surrounded by great work from other youngsters as well. This film also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble, simply because of these children.
 
Slumdog Millionaire really only lost one Oscar, and that was to The Dark Knight for Best Sound Editing (its only other lose came to itself in Best Original Song). I think the film benefited from a very weak year in cinema, and presented a technically sound and entertaining film (as "hokey" as it may be) alternative to the typical Hollywood films that were being shown in 2008. I'm not saying that Slumdog wasn't a good film, it was very good; but I am saying that it isn't the typical Academy-loving (or even critic-loving) film, and it still shocks me that they rewarded at so kindly during awards season.
 
All-in-all, my third viewing of Slumdog Millionaire was very beneficial. By now, I'm over the fact that Revolutionary Road (my favorite film of 2008!) was snubbed, and also that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was so poorly received. I was able to take a fresh look at the film, and really see the good qualities of it. Of course, I would recommend this film, but I still prefered The Hurt Locker...
 
Rankings:
1. The Hurt Locker (2009)
2. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)