1) 2 weeks ago I had the chance to see Slumdog Millionaire, a strongly-praised film from Danny Boyle about Mumbai. John beat me to the punch, and his review is dead-on. Just a couple thoughts of my own:
a) As John notes, the premise of the film is the framing structure - Jamal is the Cinderalla story of India, a tea-service boy at a telemarketer center who has made it to the top level of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Indian-style (the show did exist, though with a different host). But how did he do it?
Toward that end, the story is really a tale of a side of India, as much as it about one Muslim boy who continues to struggle his way out of Juhu, the ever-notorious slum, the legendary home of countless Bollywood heroes and various Indian literary protagonists. Like the works of Naipaul and Rushdie, this film provides an education about a country that has gone through so much in its brief "modern" existence. It may seem fantastic, but Boyle, Beaufoy, and Swaroop had no need to exaggerate.
b) The actors themselves, particularly the youngsters, do add such a natural zeal to the roles that is the key to the film. In a recent interview on the NPR show Fresh Air, Boyle noted the original script was entirely in English, to be able to sell the movie to the backers. Once they got to India, co-director Tandan explained that, to get authentic child actors, they'd have to use Hindi for parts. So much the better - I hope others continue with this trend, instead of, say, using British actors to play the parts of every European.
c) Through the rest of the awards season, you'll keep hearing about this film. For better or for worse, this is one of the better films this season and definitely worth hunting out. For a somewhat complete history of 20th century India, consider the following set:
Water
Gandhi
1947:Earth
Such A Long Journey
Salaam Bombay
Slumdog Millionaire
Monsoon Wedding
Born into Brothels
Moving on ...
b) Smart People: A lot of people saw the ads for this earlier this year, but it received mixed reviews. It turns out that happened for good reasons.
The plot: Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid in a more middle-aged role) is an obnoxious literature professor who likes to hear himself talk than connect with students or his own son. His daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page, fresh out of Juno) is the standard
overachiever/clone of her father, embracing the role of mistress of the house left empty by the sudden death of the mother/wife 3 years prior. Add to this Lawrence's low-achieving adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), who arrives in time to leech onto the family.Lawrence, while trying to get to his impounded car, falls from a fence, has a seizure and a concussion, and is taken to the local ER, where his doctor (SJ Parker) is a former student who happened to have a crush on him. He slowly becomes aware of her and tries to actually make a connection. Thus follows an awkward courtship - the "Physician" (as his daughter is fond of calling her) makes Lawrence aware of his self-centered nature. He tries to adjust, but it's still rough going in his professional and personal lives.
Meanwhile, Chuck tries to crack the hard shell of Vanessa, trying to get her to enjoy life and not view the world as misanthropically as her father. This leads to an awkward, drunken, mistaken kiss by Vanessa to Chuck, which is not returned. This storyline proceeds, paralleling the main plotline.
I wanted to really like this film, more than just appreciate it. I've known people like Lawrence and the Physician, and we do want to cheer for them. Quaid plays the former against his usual type, and very well so. Thomas Haden Church equally plays the lovable loser, almost a throwback to his days on Wings.
That said, there were a few issues that prevented the former for me. Primarily, why the hell would the Physician ever like the professor? There is some attempt to say Lawrence has been on a downward spiral since his wife died, but this is put to doubt. The Physician pulls out an old paper Lawrence had graded, a paper he gave a C, curtly and with condescension. He's not a McDreamy, he's not friendly, so why would she pursue him? They do not try to romanticize this relationship, at least; near the end, there is a twist, but the filmmakers refuse to make it sweet and playful.
Furthermore, there is just too much salt in this dish. Clearly Chuck and the Physician are supposed to play foils to the leads, Lawrence and Vanessa. The Chuck/Vanessa story is skimmed along, milked to enrich her role but leave his empty. The tone remains misanthropic and subdued, too much so. If you're going to have playful characters, let them play. When the characters are as grey as a Pittsburgh winter (the setting for this work), you just feel sucked dry by the end.
This is a work I can appreciate on a level, but unless you really want to temper a good mood with a dour movie pretending to be a romantic comedy, leave this one on the shelf.
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