I loved this film, but I felt uneasy along the way to the ending. The film uses a Mumbai version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire(?) as a catalyst for a character to revisit his past and meet his destiny. The problem is...I couldn't take Millionaire seriously. It's been nine or so years since the American version was a cultural phenomenon, and what seems like eons since the whole thing was anything but a joke to me. So, it was hard to get the full scope of the stakes for the lead character as he sat in the hot seat answering often it was his "final answer". The stakes didn't escape me. I was engaged throughout, but the show seemed included only to provide an appropriate reason to tell his story. And his story is amazing and interesting and horrible and fresh and well-told by the actor, the writer, and the director (the wonderful Danny Boyle). His past was my favorite part of the film, but how his past influences his future, nay, destiny is why everyone keeps talking about it and what makes it more special than the average tale of international poverty and other hardships far away from our comfortable theaters. I was fulfilled. I was happy. I was pleased. And I was thankful that Danny Boyle is getting the recognition long overdue to him from the Hollywood bigwigs. Let's just hope he doesn't take his new clout and make The Beach 2: Beach Blanket Bingo starring Robert Caryle and Reginald Vel Johnson.
****
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