Slumdog Millionaire (Cert 15) Cinema Review (From Knutsford Guardian)

Slumdog Millionaire (Cert 15) Cinema Review

11:00am Wednesday 28th January 2009 in Leisure By David Morgan

THE familiar theme tune of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? edited fiercely alongside brutal scenes of interrogation and torture.

This is the vivid opening sequence of Slumdog Millionaire and it will stay with you long after you leave the cinema.

Once again, British director Danny Boyle(the man behind Trainspotting and 28 Days Later) proves he can nail any genre with this unconventional love story... set in India.

It is the story of Jamal Malik (Skins’ Dev Patel), a street urchin who enters the Hindi version of the game show and becomes an unlikely millionaire.

Suspecting foul play, the show’s creepy host has Jamal taken away by the police to find out how he cheated.

But through gloriously evocative flashbacks, chronicling his life from childhood to young manhood, Jamal explains how he knew the answer to each question.

"As funny as it is moving, the film looks amazing thanks to Boyle’s avant garde direction matched with a hazy soundtrack."

David Morgan

As funny as it is moving, the film looks amazing thanks to Boyle’s avant garde direction matched with a hazy soundtrack.

Through the flashbacks, you see Jamal and his brother struggle to survive in a society of poverty, corruption and violence while a tender love story begins to emerge in pieces and clues like a jigsaw.

This is film-making at its strongest. Slumdog Millionaire confidently takes you on many journeys but never strays far from the main plot or gives you cause to switch off.

Worthy of its accolades, this is one not to be missed.

9/10 Film-making at its strongest