2008 Slumdog Millionaire

2008 Slumdog Millionaire


Jamal Malik: I knew you'd be watching.
Latika: I thought we would meet only in death.
Jamal Malik: This is our destiny.
Latika: Kiss me.

This was a great movie.  I didn’t expect to like it, but it was excellent.  Usually I don’t love movies that use flashbacks, but in this case they were worked in flawlessly.  A beautiful love story, interesting characters, and a romantic ending –the good guy won!

It is set in India, and is the story Jamal Malik, a young contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.  He is from the slums, with no extensive education, but is getting all the questions right, so they think he is cheating:

Police Inspector: Doctors...Lawyers...never get past 60 thousand rupees.  He's won 10 million.  What the hell can a slumdog possibly know?
Jamal Malik: The answers.  I knew the answers.

He recounts his difficult life growing up in the slums, being taken in by a brutal gangster to serve as a child beggar, escaping and becoming a thief along with his brother, and continually trying to track down the love of his life, Latika.

Very well done.

Gran Torino.

Gran Torino is runner up.  Clint Eastwood is at his finest as a gruff (of course) old man who takes his young Hmong neighbor, Thao, under his wing and helps to save him from the clutches of a local gang.  Thank goodness that while it parallels Million Dollar Baby in many ways, it has a much more satisfying ending.

I think Slumdog Millionaire and Gran Torino tie for Best Picture in my mind -both are deserving.

Duke: What you lookin' at old man?
Walt Kowalski: Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with?  That's me.
-Gran Torino