Slumdog Millionare

Has anyone seen this yet?

I went into this with the thoughts of how many people I've heard, and read, raving about this film. I went in expecting it to WOW me, but at the same time mindful that though it will surely be good, it may not live up to the hype; specifically the hype that had been built up in me from my expectations. It would not be the first time that I was disappointment by an otherwise excellent film simply because it could not live up to the hype.

In the first 15 or 20 minutes of the film I found myself still waiting for the movie to begin; at first the flashbacks were boring me, leaving me unattached, not fully able to care about the characters or the story. In short, I was unable to invest in the film on an emotional level.

But then it happened. Two elements of the story captured me and began to pull me forward. I ate my popcorn slower, taking smaller and smaller handfuls at a time, and sat up a bit straighter in my seat. My intellect and my emotions snapped to attention. The flashbacks revealed their purpose to me and the story the young man was telling in the police station, about the events of his past that enabled him to answer the questions correctly, to recall the things he had seen and experienced, and his emotional distress at being able to remember such things; and his concern and love for the girl, had me in the palm of the director's hand and pulled me in. That was it, I was invested. From that moment on, until the end, even past the start of the end credits, I was hooked.

And that, my friends, is the sign of a great movie. The hype I've been hearing was well placed. This was a fantastic film.