Slumdog Millionaire

So this was the second in my movie marathon weekend and, I must say, was the one most-anticipated by me. This film was one I tried several times to see while it was in the theaters but n never quite made happen. It was also the movie that seemed to be THE movie to see this year, especially since everyone I seemed to talk to had seen it at least once, oftentimes twice, telling me that the second time was even better than the first.
I must admit that all of the hype both turned me off a bit and also promised to put more pressure on a film than it could ever live up to. But, I did want to see it and thought I'd stick with my Oscar nominated film choices for the weekend.
This was a good movie. Was it the movie of the year? Not in my opinion, but again, I had such high expectations for it that, had I seen it with the rest of the world several months back, I may have a more realistic take on it and perhaps may have been moved more than I was. (and if you do decide to rent this, I highly recommend also grabbing a cupcake from Crumbs Bakery and a glass of milk....helps any movie-watching experience!)
I liked this story and found the flashbacks interesting and intriguing, for the most part. The acting was solid, the story was interesting, and it did tug at my heartstrings a bit as well. I thought it was a tad long, but that may have just been because the giant Snowcap Cupcake was sitting in my stomach and making itself known.
Anyway, this is the story (for those of you who don't know) of a young man from the slums in India who has, by any standard, quite a shitty life. But the one glimmer of hope and joy in his life, from early on, was a little girl also from the slums, Latika. Throughout the course of their childhood and adolescent lives they meet and then lose touch several times, and on most encounters you see that neither of their lives are really getting much better. But finally, after an appearance on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," their lives intertwine once more and it really is a pretty touching love story.
Again, good movie and definitely worth my time, but not life-changing or, perhaps, movie-of-the-year-worthy...but hey, that's just my little old opinion. And apparently I'm alone in it given all of the awards it won this last season! So, take this review for what it's worth. Mom and Dad probably will pass, I think Amanda has seen it, and I'm 50/50 on how you would like it, Debbie. And, since I have no good way to wrap up this review, I'll just say: The End!

Tenacious FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) is assigned to pursue Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), an ex-Special Ops soldier who joined the Al Nathir terrorist organization. But as he closes in, Clayton begins to second-guess Horn's true intentions. An intelligent and exciting spy thriller that also examines the beliefs and motivations behind terrorism, the film co-stars Jeff Daniels and Neal McDonough.

I tend to watch and post about action/thrillers more than our other bloggers and am cutting back unless the film is really good. This film is really good. Don Cheadle is excellent as the person moving through a terrorist network with unclear motives. What sets this appart from most films of this sort is the reduced violence in telling such a tale (there has to be some to tell the story) and Cheadle's character's sincere adherence to the tenents of Islam. That faith propels and supports him throughout the story and sets this film apart from other hunt-for-the-bad-guy films. The cast is uniformly excellent and the script is first rate. If this were considered a drama and not an action film, Cheadle would get a mention for an Oscar. Other than Beckie, I don't know who else would like this, but it just might be all of you.