MOVIE REVIEW: Slumdog Millionaire (15)

Mancunian director Danny Boyle - who was last seen talking to this website about his 2007 film Sunshine - goes from Sci-Fi to Mumbai in his latest film, tipped for Oscar glory. Boyle has always had a knack for eluding stereotype, and has quietly established himself as one of Britain’s most reliable filmmakers. Whether courting Hollywood with A Life Less Ordinary or tearing apart the streets of London with 28 Days Later, he’s never compromised or worried about whether a film is too different from what he’s done in the past.

A British/ Indian co-production, Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal (Dev Patel), a teenage tea-boy from the slums of Mumbai, who inexplicably finds himself one question away from winning his country’s version of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’. Suspected of cheating, a suspicious police inspector (Ifran Khan) takes him in for questioning on the eve of the next episode, where he is due to answer the final question, and over each question we find out about the turbulent street life of Jamal, the events which inspired this miraculous run of luck, and the girl he is risking everything for (Freida Pinto).

What strikes you first about the film is that it’s so clever without being pleased with itself. Each question is linked to an event in Jamal’s life, and so during the film we are treated to India’s astonishing landscape, from the brightest skyscrapers to the most horrid slums imaginable. Our tour guides are Jamal and his brother, two immensely charming characters who go through more in eighteen years than most go through in a lifetime, but with Jamal still maintaining an innocence that makes you root for him right through to the tense climax. The script has got a lot of humour, the biggest compliment being that although the dialogue flits between English and subtitled Hindi, you’re so engrossed that you quickly adapt.

For an actor with one previous TV credit (UK series ‘Skins’) to his name, Patel does an amazing job. He plays Jamal as a fundamentally innocent character, but with an edge that makes you believe he could survive in the slums. The child actors that play the younger versions of both Jamal and his brother Salim also do brilliantly, given the many torrid scenes they act in. Throw in some strong support from local legends Ifran Khan (last seen in western cinema with Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart), and Anil Kapoor, who plays the suave but ruthless game show host.

Theres lots of little parts that put the joy into watching this film, but the biggest and most essential is its heart. It’s an optimistic film, even given all the ordeals these characters have been through. Finding hope and even humour in despair, sentimentality amid the bleakest of backgrounds, and a story that’s not so much ‘David Vs Goliath’ but ‘David Vs. The Whole World’, that makes this the most uplifting film of the year. A work up there with Boyle’s best (yes, even Trainspotting), and something both India and Britain can be proud of.

Slumdog Millionaire is out January 9.