Slumdog Millionaire - B+

In theaters. Rated R, 104 minutes. Trailer.

Visceral, gritty and soulful, Slumdog Millionaire is a story of love and self-reliance told through the prism of poverty and opportunity in India. Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Sunshine) is in top form as he uses the diverse canvas of India and the slums of Mumbai/Bombay to weave this tale. Click below for more of SLUMDOG:

The story is structured around Jamal's improbable performance on the Indian Who Wants to be a Millionaire. On the show, he has gone further than anyone else, on the cusp of winning 20 million Rupees ($400,000) and vaulting himself from poverty. The show ends before he takes his last question, which sets the stage for him to come back on the next show for the big win. When he leaves the studio, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating and interrogated all night and day about it. By way of explanation, Jamal tells his interrogator (the always solid Irfan Khan) the circumstances (usually tragic/poignant) around how he came to know the answer to each of the questions. With the interrogation as the backdrop, Boyle moves us through the story in sequence with the questions. Jamal and Salim are typical slumdogs in Mumbai, growing up with nothing and begging and stealing to make a living. As kids, they join with fellow orphan Latika in their quest for survival. Jamal and Latika are in love and he fights at every turn to stay with her.

Each of the vignettes explaining his knowledge tells a different aspect of his upbringing. Ranging from stealing food on a train to living in a dump, each of these sequences is kinetic, frantic and set to great music. Jamal is a man that has been betrayed by the government, religion, family and the world - he has survived on his own and that clarity of thought is what convinces Khan of Jamal's veracity. Jamal and Salim make up the classic ying-yang, with Jamal being sweet and older brother Salim being worldly and vicious at times. Their divergence and interactions were my favorite part of the film, with Salim being forced to take care of them, and paying for it with his soul. His final scene is one of the coolest ultra-violent scenes I have seen in a long time (the director from Wanted might want to take some notes).

This feels a lot like City of God, with flashes of Born into Brothels and even Quiz Show. The dialogue is consistently strong, with the smarmy game show host (a dead ringer for Dallas radio 'personality' Gordon Keith) constantly putting down Jamal for his station in life. This was a really good film and I had a hard time deciding between an A- and a B+, but ultimately I decided the film wasn't the sum of its brilliant parts. A must see for this year, just behind The Dark Knight as the best film of the year so far.