Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle
Cert: 15
Time: 2 hrs
Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire is currently the talk of Tinseltown and it is easy to see why. Utilising such Dickensian themes as orphans, slum dwellers, underdogs, wicked baddies, cruelty, love and eventual triumph against adversity it is a feelgood film writ large. Rather than London however we find ourselves in India and more particularly Mumbai whose vibrant and contrasting character are vividly portrayed through powerful imagery.
The main narrative, of a slum dweller getting to the final of India’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, is also charming and even though we suspect he wins the ultimate prize the quality of the script and direction ensure that tension is maintained right up to the end. That said the story itself is so contrived that any semblance of a link with reality is lost and with it an emotional bond with both the tale and its main protagonists. But that is perhaps to be overly churlish.
For years British cinema has been criticised for its inability to produce Hollywood style blockbusters. This ticks all the necessary boxes and having been made for just £8m, it will earn a packet.
Rating: 3/5
Patrons: 78 (only two seats left)
CA
