Slumdog Millionaire

January 2 is my birthday, and since it occurs at a time of year when everyone, including me, is tired of partying, I always celebrate by taking myself to the movies (and sneaking in a really good beer to enjoy during it!).

Yesterday I saw an exceptional film, "Slumdog Millionaire". This is an Indian film that is getting quite a bit of early Oscar buzz, and for good reason. On the surface it is about a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be A Millionaire", who is accused of cheating, in part because he is an uneducated product of Mumbai's slums. What impressed me was the interesting story-telling technique. The film uses his answering the questions on the show as a method of flashing back and telling the main character's life story. In fact, you have 4 things going on at once: the question of whether he will win the big money on the game, the question of whether the police will be convinced by his story and let him go, the story of his very hard life growing up, and a love story.

This is truly and outstanding and different film, so go see it before it leaves your local theater. And don't leave before the credits run, because, as it is an Indian film, there is a big dance production number at the end.