When I am looking for an honest, objective movie review, I know where to turn and it’s away from the newspapers and the tv and it’s to the internet and to Stella at wellaboveaverage.com
Recently she has seen 2 movies I have contemplated seeing. One I didn’t see (Slum Dog Millionaire) because someone else wanted to see Gran Torino (a good movie, even a great performance by Clint Eastwood but not for those who can’t handle really bad language particularly the racist kind and a lot of violence. I wonder when that started to bother me about a Clint Eastwood film? I *love* Dirty Harry flicks. Go figure)…
SlumDog Millionaire is a movie I want to see but it’s farther down the list but that list might be pretty short because January is often a dump month for movies. They “dump” the terrible junk movies into January figuring you have “nothing” else to do. (so wrong! I could clean out closets or the office.) Hopefully this one will stick around long enough for me to catch it.
Stella make reference to a few movies in her review including City of God and Danny Boyles presentation of SlumDog Millionaire
I perceive this movie to be more like a bit of Bollywood meets Cinderella meets something else (musical maybe?) but really a sweet, touching film. What does Stella say? .
Apparently Danny Boyle secretly wants happy endings as well. Despite the bleak Sunshine (which arguably had a happy ending for earth–if not the crew of the Icarus II) and his other grim fare, Boyle pulls out all stops for Slumdog Millionaire–including a Bollywood style dance number at the end.
His affinity for conveying the color and squalor of India was amazing. In that aspect, the film reminded me a lot of the brilliant City of God. Jamal’s (a completely sympathetic Dev Patel) interactions with the police inspector (the always wonderful Irrfan Khan) was reminiscent of another favorite film of mine, The Usual Suspects. Indeed, the interrogation is merely a plot device to flashback to vignettes of Jamal’s life as his memories provide the proof of how he knew the answers to the game show questions.
From witnessing his mother’s brutal murder to landing in a so-called orphanage run by a character who makes Dickens’ Fagin look like Mother Theresa, to losing and then finding and then losing and finding again the love of his life, Jamal weaves a colorful and complex tapestry as he relates his tale. Unlike the tapestry woven by Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects, Jamal tells the truth.
I think I misunderstood what this movie was about. Based on her description this sounds like a thoughtful, complex movie that really challenges one in a way that Gran Torino does (that’s my review coming soon). I think that based on everything that Stella said HERE
you should check out her review. Comment to her and/or me if you have seen the movie and your thoughts.
The other film I took a pass on because I just wasn’t sure the performances would live up to the hype was the Brad Pitt/ Cate Blanchett match-up in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
According to Stella, it seems I may not have made a mistake in passing on this one (thankfully –hopefuly– I still have time to see it. Unlike The Duchess where the nearest place to see it was nearly 30 miles away.) The biggest thing is that it’s too much a mish-mash of other films. The performances according to Stella are ok, the supporting performances better by far. I just think maybe I might wait to review this one on DVD but I DO recommend that you read Stella’s review. If you have seen the movie, comment to her– and/or– to me and let us know YOUR thoughts.
Stevie Wilson
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