Take the guy that wrote the screenplay for The Full Monty (Simon Beaufoy) and the director of Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle) and you have one of the biggest, freshest and most vibrant hits of 2008. Slumdog Millionaire received its full opening this week, having already scored significant success with the British Independent Film Awards, National Board of Review and Toronto International Film Festival.

The screenplay itself is based on the book Q and A by Vikas Swarup. Based and filmed in India it tells the story of a poor chai-wallah (tea boy) named Jamal, who finds himself the fortunate grand prize winner on India’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Instantly he’s suspected of cheating, taken in by the local police and (brutally) interrogated. It turns out that our chai-wallah happened to know all the answers from a series of life experiences. Hence unfolds an interplay of three stories, Jamal’s life story, the scenes on the game show, and the interview at the police station.

What seems like a young boy riding his luck actually turns out to be a tale of destiny. As he happens upon the answers, he reminisces about tales of his coming of age on the streets of Mumbai. One of the questions pertains to the brutal death of his mother at the hands of religious extremists, others tell of child prostitution, begging, hustling and cruelty. It’s a harrowing Dickensian style tale told in a third world setting. But the screenplay also cleverly intertwines humor, never allowing us to get too entrenched in morbid reflection. Occasionally the humor is simple Bollywood style jokes, at other times we witness the grotesque toilet humor of Trainspotting. Wrapped up in all of this a love interest. It turns out that Jamal only went on the game show to attract the attention of his fellow childhood orphan Latika, a girl he has lost and found on numerous occasions in the past.

The script borrows from many sources. I remember watching a documentary about a guy who cheated on the British Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and was subsequently found out. Apparently they investigate all these big prize winners, albeit in somewhat of a more amicable and pleasant manner than we see in Slumdog Millionaire. The interrogations and flashback formula strikes a strong resemblance to The Usual Suspects while the story of Jamal and his brother making their way as orphans through India has elements of Oliver set in the more dangerous City of God. The ensuing love story also contains much of Wicker Park. A coupl of scenes even borrow from Quiz Show. But it's all intelligently and cleverly intertwined in a completely original, new and refreshing manner. What’s especially clever is the way that despite all the tragedy, the director manages to emphasize humor and the feel good romance. We witness several acts of brutality (not entirely graphic) but come out of the movie with a big smile on our face.

The storyline may seem a little cliché, a little all too coincidental, but it works remarkably well. It takes on so many different elements that it’s tough to categorize. To call it a love story is all too simplistic because that’s really only a minor part of what we see. I found one scene especially symbolic. It was that of Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar being shown on a television screen. He too grew up in Mumbai to become one of the greatest (the greatest according to Indians) cricketers in the history of the game. He represents the Indian dream, one that Americans might more closely identify with young Cubans playing baseball. At 5’5” he’s an unlikely hero, but so is our game show chai-wallah who simultaneously captures the hearts and dreams of the nation.  

Boyle’s directorial style is very much on show. He cleverly manages to mix up the dark storyline of Shallow Grave, the visual beauty of The Beach and the pace, energy and Lust for Life of Trainspotting. That brings me to the soundtrack of course. It’s originally composed and created by A. R. Rahman; Indian style music set to more modern hip hop and techno beats that cleverly enhances the energy and feel good factor of the story. The cinematography also deserves special attention. It’s a beautifully filmed project, no more so evident than in the shots of the slums of Mumbai, shown in fast paced detail as our characters run through the streets, and then cutting out to Google Earth like overheads. As such this is probably Danny Boyle’s most complete piece of work to date.

I’ve been a big fan of Danny Boyle’s for over a decade. I even liked The Beach and A Lifeless Ordinairy that nobody else cared for. Trainspotting was great but Slumdog Millionaire is even better and will certainly draw in a little more mainstream appeal. I even consider this to be the best movie of the year so far.

A note about the R-Rating: There are several brutal scenes and suggestions, but it’s barely graphic. I’d have no problem letting my 14 year old daughter see this.

Recommended: Yes