Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

It took me nine years to watch Slumdog Millionaire, and for a good reason. I still can’t believe that this film won Best Picture over one of the greatest movies of all-time, The Dark Knight.

My opinion here may be a little basis, but after watching the film last night, I got to say it didn’t keep me engaged enough to honestly care about this guy and his story. Is this a love story? It is a criminal story? Is he really smart or just lucky? Was I watching a different version of Lion? How on earth could the questions from the game show really be a part of his disturbed childhood?

I know I was predisposed to not like this movie, but nothing about this film screamed the best picture released in 2008. If Slumdog Millionaire was about a kid living on the streets of Detroit, whose personal life was a disaster, and he won a million dollars…no one would like it. But because a little boy is exposed to the cruellest realities of the real world in a poor country, everyone applauds when he finally makes something of himself. That may sound really harsh, but let’s be honest for a second, this entire story is very unrealistic.

My girlfriend explained that the whole point of this story is about Jamal doing anything for love, but does he really need to go on a game show and win millions of dollars to make it work? Despite all the danger, couldn’t they just run away together? How many other movies have we all seen where people have run away with less money and fewer belongings. Being a celebrity with lots of money would draw more attention, sometimes not the attention that is always welcomed, which could have ruined their happy ending.

Maybe it is the genre, the characters, or the story that ultimately didn’t win me over, or maybe I just can’t believe this film won an Oscar. Either way, I look at it, I know the majority of you love this movie and will always treasure it much more than I do. 5/10

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