I remember the start of this love affair well.

I took a much deserved day off from the office on Friday November 14, 2008. It was one of those vacation days I would lose if I didn’t take it. I had read that a film was opening by a director I have always enjoyed, Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting”, “Millions”, “Shallow Grave”, “28 Days Later”, “Sunshine”.) I knew very little about what the film was about but knew that it would be unique based on the work I had seen by this director in the past.

Another appeal to me was the young actor in the “lead.” Dev Patel, a virtual unknown to the United States played a character for two series in a British teen drama (a bit of “Dawson’s Creek” on steroids) called “Skins”. In it he was Anwar, the British Muslim who wanted to hump everything. Delightful and gawky, he had quickly become a fun favorite in the series, one that I had been watching here on BBC America since August (and had caught in its original run on a visit to London in 2007.)

What has happened since November 14th is no less than a complete obsession with what this movie represents, how it looks, what it did to and for me and what I want to see it achieve (and happily see happening) as the Award Season progresses.

And no, I do not work for either Fox Searchlight or Warner Brothers Independent (come to think of it… I’m not sure anyone works for Warner Bros. Independent any longer…)

Slumdog Millionaire removed me from the world. It took me completely into another place, another time… an adventure, a Dickensian tale, a love story and a beautiful trip through impoverished Mumbai, India all in one two hour sitting. I have since run through hallways, announced in Facebook and telephoned friends practically begging them to experience the film. It has effected me to the point of wanting to go see it for a third time in the theater simply to go back to a place that I enjoyed as much as this.

But it is no Disney movie (Thank God…) It is hard to handle in a few of its parts. There is poverty, there is crime, there is bloodshed and there are some hard to handle evils demonstrated by a particularly Fagan-like character who finds orphaned children and turns them into beggers (through different methods and means…)

But more than anything it is a beautiful and aching love story. A boy that never gives up on love and the hope of finding the girl who keeps getting torn away from him. There is a magic in his unwavering struggle and fight and one of the most unique tales of a life told through glimpses that provide answers that would later be part of a trivia phenomena that is “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” (or… as the host calls it… “Who wants to be a Millonaire..”)

Jamal Malik serves tea for a phone company in Mumbai (a Chai wallah) and through complete circumstance within the confines of the job and sitting in for a phoner, ends up a contestant on the wildly popular game show. Through a series of trivia questions the young man ends up with extraordinary success and one question away from a grand prize of 20 Million Rupees. The problem is that the show’s host and the local police believe he is cheating and pull him into the station to question… and torture a confession out of him. When there is no confession the police chief and Jamal sit through the show and each of its questions answered correctly and Jamal goes back through his younger life with older brother Salim and Latika, the young girl of his affections. Each piece of this puzzle provides a beautifully told and viewed backdrop explaining precisely how the young man would have the answer to the question.

Movies today lack originality. They are often formulaic and predictable. There is always the feeling of familiarity in large chunks of what we see. With Slumdog Millionaire I encountered something so utterly original I went back a week later with my cousin to make sure he saw it as well. Without a doubt this is the movie of the year for me… and, it would seem, a growing amount of others… including critics and awards.

This is the second time Danny Boyle has topped my yearly list of Best Films: In 1996 I was enthralled with the mind-bending originality of “Trainspotting”. But there is something about Slumdog that makes this an even better film for me. It is a complete drug… it accomplishes what so many other things are unable to do. It overtakes and it shifts how I feel. THAT is a good movie.

Next week I will provide my Top 10 for 2008. Until then: get out to the movies. See Slumdog Millionaire.

Posted: 12|24|08 at 11:18 pm. Filed under: What If I Told you....

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