Slumdog Millionaire
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: November 12, 2008
7.8
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 829 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
658
Mixed:
102
Negative:
69
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1
AkashVijayJan 22, 2015
Slumdog Millionaire is Danny Boyle's worst film so far. Boyle tried to ambitiously replicate Fernando Meirelles' City of God - a true modern masterpiece about life on the outskirts of Rio De Janeiro - but he failed miserably. It's one ofSlumdog Millionaire is Danny Boyle's worst film so far. Boyle tried to ambitiously replicate Fernando Meirelles' City of God - a true modern masterpiece about life on the outskirts of Rio De Janeiro - but he failed miserably. It's one of those terribly cliched and predictable movies where the lovable loser wins at the end and gets the girl and the money. The acting is weak and there's a glaring lack of substance. There's not a single transformation portrayed, no character arc just an overflow of sappy moments. It doesn't resemble a shred of reality and it completely skips the true horrors of being born in poverty. I have lived in England all my life but even someone as unaware as me could point out that kids who serve tea in India with no parents don't speak in English, certainly not with hints of a British accent. The film says that the only hope to escape poverty is by fortuity and for that people flourish it with awards? Danny Boyle's crowd pleasing "art" film is the very definition of mediocrity. It's manipulative trash simply made for the sole purposes of winning awards.… Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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0
erslymanJul 4, 2015
How this dreadful movie won an Oscar for best picture is beyond me. It's so dull, drawn out, and silly that one has difficulty understanding where crtics found their praise. The work is drab, dreary and smacks of amateurism to the nth degree.How this dreadful movie won an Oscar for best picture is beyond me. It's so dull, drawn out, and silly that one has difficulty understanding where crtics found their praise. The work is drab, dreary and smacks of amateurism to the nth degree. The record shows that Hollywood Academy of Motion Pictures changed the way they vote for Oscars due to the selecton this dog of a movie.… Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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0
TylerDurdenJan 16, 2009
Extremely overrated. Poor acting.An annoying cacophony atop a predictable structure.I want those 2 hours of my life back.
1 of 2 users found this helpful
0
LuisNov 13, 2008
One of the most overrated films of the year in addition to The wrestler, Rachel getting married,the visitor,che or Frost/Nixon. Slumdog millonaire is a bad film and a bored bored bored film.
1 of 3 users found this helpful
1
SodomGApr 7, 2009
Horndog Bazillionaire!
1 of 4 users found this helpful
0
mickelwickJan 23, 2013
slumdog millionaire is just a group of plot devices moving through a childishly contrived plot,
doing solely what said plot requires them to do, with no heart to make me believe otherwise.
these anti-characters go through NO developmentslumdog millionaire is just a group of plot devices moving through a childishly contrived plot,
doing solely what said plot requires them to do, with no heart to make me believe otherwise.

these anti-characters go through NO development or change whatsoever, they begin the terrible
"story" as good or evil, with no grey area, and remain good or evil when the "story" ends, they don't even have much personality, jamal is good... because he's good, latika is good...
because she's good, saleem is bad... because he's bad... they have no logical motivation, and
before you try and tell me that saleem killing the owner of an orphanage/brothel is what made
him evil... NO, saleem lets go of latika when they're escaping, saleem locks jamal inside a toilet, forcing him to swim through feces to get out (which is played for laughs)... saleem is a terrible person before he shoots the guy, and he's a terrible person after he shoots the
guy... the fact that these aren't characters means the only time i care about anyone in the entire movie, is when saleem, latika and jamal are children... solely because they're little children, and nobody with a conscience can refuse to care about children who go through
horrific torture and... WAIT WHAT??? that's right, this film centres around the torturing of children, the prostitution of children, the emotional suffering of children, you get the point, now let me explain why this is a problem, THIS IS WIDELY ACCEPTED AS ONE OF THE BEST FEEL-GOOD MOVIES OF 2008, doesn't the physical/sexual/emotional abuse of children just make any sane person feel all warm and fuzzy inside? I SINCERELY HOPE NOT! jamal and saleem had a terrible childhood which is revealed through flashbacks as terrible
as the things they depict, it is from these flashbacks that jamal knows all the answers to
the questions presented in an indian "who wants to be a millionaire" (which is impossble to
cheat in, because only the host knows the questions/answers, and every variation of the show
only uses LANDLINES to prevent connection failure, which renders two major plot points in the film completely invalid), but the most gaping plot holes arise when two of these flashbacks DO NOT EVEN GIVE JAMAL THE ANSWER, OR THE CHANCE FOR JAMAL TO FIGURE OUT THE
ANSWER!!!

oh, and they don't show jamal completing the general knowledge questions REQUIRED to appear
on every variation of the show, which he would have failed at, because he is unaware that
ghandi is on every piece of indian currency (even though he clearly earns indian money
throughout the movie), if he doesn't know that, how much more does he not know? this alone
renders the ENTIRE PLOT invalid...

jamal went on the show because latika loves the show, and he loves latika, which is oh so
IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE BECAUSE JAMAL AND LATIKA HAVE NO CHEMISTRY, THEY HAVE NO COMMON
INTERESTS, THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE AN IN-DEPTH CONVERSATION IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE, this is what i meant when i said 'no logical motivation' jamal and latika are in love solely because the plot needs them to be, and dear god does it show.

oh, and then there's the ending, now, all throughout the movie, there is a consistent theme: money is evil, so what happens... HE WINS!!! if the movie had any logical messages he would have lost, and realised, alongside the audience, that money isn't everything, but no...

let me leave you with this: slumdog millionaire won eight oscars.… Expand
1 of 6 users found this helpful15
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2
speedydamonSep 8, 2009
this is the movie which deserve two awards to sy the least.THE MOST OVERRATED MOVIE & THE BEST FEEL-GOOD MOVIE TO THE WEST.all the director does at his best is that to portray India as a big slum.all the shady characters are Indians and thethis is the movie which deserve two awards to sy the least.THE MOST OVERRATED MOVIE & THE BEST FEEL-GOOD MOVIE TO THE WEST.all the director does at his best is that to portray India as a big slum.all the shady characters are Indians and the occassional foriegn tourists are the only messiahs.very cool indeed.I think it is well hatched plot by the academy to give awards to two indians who worked with the film so that they can be sure it will grab the attention of India.Rahman has given to Indians sweeter melodies than jai ho to the Indians.Its a very poor attempt to showcase the poverty of India so that the westerners can feel good about themselves.same can be said abt the Booker Prize given to Aravind Adiga.Pure, unadultrated crap.… Expand
0 of 2 users found this helpful
3
MannyDFeb 12, 2010
I really to stop watching this movie right at the beginning. Just 5 minutes into the movie, I knew it was going to be a really bad cliche movie and it was. It was an insult to see this movie to have so much acclaim and the credits of this I really to stop watching this movie right at the beginning. Just 5 minutes into the movie, I knew it was going to be a really bad cliche movie and it was. It was an insult to see this movie to have so much acclaim and the credits of this movie cut the cake to how shitty this movie it was. The only thing that this movie did for me was to feel bad for the country of India but that's because they depict so badly in this movie.… Expand
0 of 2 users found this helpful
3
neillmJul 10, 2009
i was looking forward to seeing this because everyone i know enjoyed it, but i thought it was boring, drab, and over-rated. Needs to recolor some of the subtitles, white text on a yellow background (i believe it was a car) is damn neari was looking forward to seeing this because everyone i know enjoyed it, but i thought it was boring, drab, and over-rated. Needs to recolor some of the subtitles, white text on a yellow background (i believe it was a car) is damn near impossible to read.

The story was nice, i like the concept, just didn;t do it for me as a film.… Expand
0 of 2 users found this helpful
3
PKJan 25, 2009
Contrived Plot
0 of 1 users found this helpful
3
KRFeb 25, 2009
Why this predictable, schmaltzy movie won Best Picture and is being so widely praised is beyond me. THE DARK KNIGHT, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, THE WRESTLER and WALL-E were all far better movies.
0 of 1 users found this helpful
0
DavidBurkhartMar 2, 2009
This may be the worst movie ever made. I take that back. "From Beyond" is the worst. This one is second. Not one of the reviews I've read even mentioned the aspect of the persecution of the Muslims in a Hindu country. Where is the moralThis may be the worst movie ever made. I take that back. "From Beyond" is the worst. This one is second. Not one of the reviews I've read even mentioned the aspect of the persecution of the Muslims in a Hindu country. Where is the moral indignation at India for this racist behavior? The reviewers all mention the vibrant colors of the slums. That makes it the best film of the year? Why should we be visually assaulted watching a movie? Crap.This movie is crap.… Expand
0 of 2 users found this helpful
2
TylerRDec 27, 2009
One of the Worst films that i have watched in the past 5 years. It was trying to be funny at some points without even being close to funny. I never felt for any of the characters. If they both would have gotten shot and died i would have One of the Worst films that i have watched in the past 5 years. It was trying to be funny at some points without even being close to funny. I never felt for any of the characters. If they both would have gotten shot and died i would have been happy cause the movie would of ended.… Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful
3
ItamarB.Jan 26, 2009
Highly disappointing. Many aspects of this movie are great but Boyle's tendency to keep a tucky romantic love story in the center of the movie with awfully ridiculous dialogues simply ruins the movie. I choose 3 to counteract the high Highly disappointing. Many aspects of this movie are great but Boyle's tendency to keep a tucky romantic love story in the center of the movie with awfully ridiculous dialogues simply ruins the movie. I choose 3 to counteract the high scores this movie gets.… Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful
2
soApr 22, 2009
Stupid. boring. i got the dvd and was waiting and waiting for the movie to live up to all the Oscars it won and it never happened.i fast forwarded through half of it because it was so damn boring. and the part with him not caring if he won Stupid. boring. i got the dvd and was waiting and waiting for the movie to live up to all the Oscars it won and it never happened.i fast forwarded through half of it because it was so damn boring. and the part with him not caring if he won the money seemed totally unrealistic. horrible.although there were a few redeeming parts such as the nail biting ending.… Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful
2
matthewaFeb 19, 2009
Very mediocre. I agree with other sentiments about moviegoers jumping on the 'awards bandwagon.' There is nothing really original about this film other than the fact that it comes from India. I could not help but think that this Very mediocre. I agree with other sentiments about moviegoers jumping on the 'awards bandwagon.' There is nothing really original about this film other than the fact that it comes from India. I could not help but think that this movie was simply a combination of a couple of movies I have seen before and it was much less powerful. The film tries to juggle too many half baked messages and plot twists to be of real substance; and propped up by acting that is OK at best this film is not worth the praise it is getting.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
1
DavidBMar 1, 2009
Without doubt one of my all time worst experiances in the cinema - and a prime example of how seemingly intelligent critics would rather not upset the apple cart and state the facts - this film is awfull! The script is badly written, Without doubt one of my all time worst experiances in the cinema - and a prime example of how seemingly intelligent critics would rather not upset the apple cart and state the facts - this film is awfull! The script is badly written, characters are totally without any depth or substance, serious themes of poverty are used as puerile plot points then thrown away as and when it doesn't serve a totally twee unbelievable romance. The acting is uniformly amatureish - none of the protaganists create any humanity beyond the writers belief you should care for them due to their sufferings - and the fact they are contrasted with one dimensional evil characters all around them. Maybe if the director wanted to make some serious points about 3rd world poverty he could of done it with more rounded characters? Some of the representations of India (police torture because you get a few questions right on a game show) are ludicrous verging on racist. Which maybe ok in a fairy tale, but then don't make a fairy tale and use serious issues as plot devices. Far from being proud of this piece of dirge (as the UK press are suggesting) British Cinema should bow it's head in shame.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
2
SylviaVMar 21, 2009
A huge letdown considering all the hype! Apart from being visually impressive and having a few mildly entertaining moments, this movie is confusing at best and pointless, naive and overblown at worst. I mean, the 2 main characters that are A huge letdown considering all the hype! Apart from being visually impressive and having a few mildly entertaining moments, this movie is confusing at best and pointless, naive and overblown at worst. I mean, the 2 main characters that are supposed to be deeply in love never even exchange a proper sentence, and the character of Jamal Malik is as blank as a sheet of paper. Not to mention that the point of the story completely escapes me...unless the point is depicting all the worst horrors of Indian poverty just to elicit the shock and pity of the white, Western viewer comfortably seated in a cinema chair with lots popcorn in his hand. I am forced to conclude that this is one of the main reasons why this movie got so many awards- to appease social consciousness. It seems that by patching graphic scenes of poverty and violence onto a pointless, confusing plot and a set of faceless characters, we come to what is, today, considered a highly acclaimed movie.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
0
AndrasGApr 20, 2009
This is a joke.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
1
LeenaJan 15, 2009
This movie has exaggerated both the poverty of Indian people and the attitude of the Indians. All the WORST POSSIBLE incidents that could happen to a human being is being depicted as happening to this SOLE PERSON, which can't be This movie has exaggerated both the poverty of Indian people and the attitude of the Indians. All the WORST POSSIBLE incidents that could happen to a human being is being depicted as happening to this SOLE PERSON, which can't be REALISTIC. I am at the same time not denying about the pathetic conditions of people living in the slums. But all the worst things occuring to a single person, is VERY UNLIKELY. The worst part of the movie is the attitude of the host of show "Who wants to be a millionaire". Being an Indian, I have never seen any person humiliating any other person in a PUBLIC SHOW. If something like this happens, the public will never tolerate these kind of humiliation on a show that is broadcast nationally. So this movie is a hype depicting all the bad side of the Indian culture and people. So I did not enjoy watching this movie.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
1
BobTJan 16, 2009
I find the movie extremely offensive and racist. It shows Indian culture as bankrupt and evil. There isn't a single good Indian person in that movie. What are people happy about? Do you guys really believe India is such a morally I find the movie extremely offensive and racist. It shows Indian culture as bankrupt and evil. There isn't a single good Indian person in that movie. What are people happy about? Do you guys really believe India is such a morally bankrupt society? How come the west likes to see only movies that show abject poverty and misery? This movie is made by a westener for a western audience so that they can feel good about themselves. Pathetic!… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
2
TomSFeb 11, 2009
Why is everyone so eager to jump on this bandwagon? If not for the unbelievable shower of awards, this movie would have slipped into deserved obscurity. Manipulative...flashy...provides a caffeine-buzz but no real nourishment....exciting to Why is everyone so eager to jump on this bandwagon? If not for the unbelievable shower of awards, this movie would have slipped into deserved obscurity. Manipulative...flashy...provides a caffeine-buzz but no real nourishment....exciting to viewers who may just be easily pleased....I was annoyed and angered by the way the filmmakers expected viewers to respond to this horror-fairy tale....the more sensitive viewer would not be dancing in the aisles, and those who expect more from their art and entertainment would most likely not be inspired.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
0
JohnM.Feb 16, 2009
I cannot understand all this weird appraisal noise about this underrate piece of movie. It
0 of 0 users found this helpful
1
AngeloIApr 6, 2009
I was completely let down by this movie. I just don't see what all the hype was about. Very hard to follow but simply a series of segments of his life on how he knew the answers. SO WHAT? Only became interesting in the last 15 minutes I was completely let down by this movie. I just don't see what all the hype was about. Very hard to follow but simply a series of segments of his life on how he knew the answers. SO WHAT? Only became interesting in the last 15 minutes and by then I was so pissed off at wasting my time watching it, I lost all confidence in movie reviewers. Terrible movie. Don't waste your time.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
2
FrankG.Dec 21, 2008
This movie has plenty of facile emotional manipulation. There's a lot of poverty in the world, in case you didn't know it. Mean authority figures, too. Beware foreign films such as this one which is the latest darling among film critics!
0 of 0 users found this helpful
2
ArupBFeb 22, 2009
I just happened to see the movie before the Academy Awards results are declared. I can offer two observations on the movie notwithstanding the "ga-ga" attitude of the western media. 1. The movie is nothing, but a standard documentary that I just happened to see the movie before the Academy Awards results are declared. I can offer two observations on the movie notwithstanding the "ga-ga" attitude of the western media. 1. The movie is nothing, but a standard documentary that describes only the darker, poorer aspect of India. Everybody in India and in the Third World ,seems to be a fraud from the police constable, a brother, and upto the top entreupreneur - the man who is hosting the TV show(Played by Anil Kapoor). Probably that is what the West would like to see in India;and that is what Danny Boyle has seen. Which is why, the movie is such a runaway hit in the West. 2. The Movie is an abashed depiction of the Racist attitude of the white man and the West. Even after getting striped off all the parts of a Mercedes, the White tourist still shows benevolence by offering a $100 bill to the prime suspect and mutters - "look what we can do" or something to that effect. That it is extremely undigestible; I could well feel it, as I have traveled extensively in the Western world. I hope to get some comments on that. h… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
2
CarolsFeb 25, 2009
I don't understand how this movie won Best Motion Picture. I was horrified by the poverty and the devastating life of those children of the slums. Their live was beyond despair. It was a tribute to the human spirit that they survived at I don't understand how this movie won Best Motion Picture. I was horrified by the poverty and the devastating life of those children of the slums. Their live was beyond despair. It was a tribute to the human spirit that they survived at all. And if this had been a documentary void of the fairytale love story and the game show it would have had merit. But as it was I feel it was exploitation to the max. I think Boyle and his cronies should be ashamed of themselves.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
3
FilipeNetoMar 18, 2018
This film features a less tourist and romantic side of India: a society where traditional social castes are still subject to discrimination, where the immensely rich are very few, and the absolutely miserable are millions. I'm not in India toThis film features a less tourist and romantic side of India: a society where traditional social castes are still subject to discrimination, where the immensely rich are very few, and the absolutely miserable are millions. I'm not in India to see if this film shows the reality, in these issue, but it might be close. The two main characters are played by Dev Patel and Freida Pinto (a possible descendant of Portuguese, judging by the family name), and we can say that both are quite reasonable, given the circumstances. However, this film is just that good.

To begin, credibility is not the big point of this film, especially for those who do not believe in coincidences. Otherwise, we would never be able to believe in the possibility of a person without instruction win a general culture contest thanks to answers are things that these person was memorizing lifelong, by chance. Nor would believe that one contest normally transmitted deferred would be broadcast live, or that such a popular winner could walk in public immediately after the contest without anyone looking at him more than twice. None of this makes sense, only serves melodramatic purposes, but this is the basis of the film and the script, written by Simon Beaufoy, based on a book I've never read, by Vikas Swarup. This lack of logic fatally victim the main character, despite Patel's efforts to look convincing. His romantic couple seems more consistent, but never ceases to be a highly secondary character.

Far-fetched and unrealistic from the beginning to the end, this film is a failure. The way was thinking is too imaginative and bet too much on coincidences. This works with some, but not all audiences. This film does not have the value that most critics gave him, nor deserve Oscars who won. If there is overrated films, this is one.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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