Slumdog Millionaire

Before getting into the film itself here's a few reasons (if the movie is accurate) as to why the Indian version of who wants to be a millionaire destroys ours:

1) Apparently it airs completely live - you know there would be a one F-Bomb dropped, and a lot more uncomfortably awkward interaction between the contestant and Regis. Plus seeing Regis roll totally live would be tremendous.

2) On the Indian version you have to decide if you're going to take the money and leave before you see the question. None of our weak letting the contestant deliberate for 15 hours after reading the question and then walking away. This ups the tension considerably.

3) Once you miss a question you lose everything. No checkpoints where you have guaranteed money no matter what happens. No more coddling of contestants.

4) Indian Regis pretty much finds it acceptable to heckle the guests, make fun of their jobs, and generally be dismissive of their social standing if they come from a lower caste. Really it's like if Don Rickles hosted the show, but better since in India you can make fun of someone because of where they were born and everybody is cool with it (on the other hand that's kind of like how we treat people from the south).

5) And by far the best reason is that if Indian Regis thinks you don't have the background to be doing as well as you are, he has no problem having the police throw a burlap sack over your head, smack you around, apply electro shock, and Abu Gharib you for 24 hours until you confess to cheating. I think I can safely say that if Jeopardy did this it would be the greatest thing in the history of the world.

As for the movie itself, somebody lent me an academy screener (I know I'm so connected, bow to me you insignificant people) and my brother and I watched it on his 13 inch flat screen, therefore it iss possible I missed some of the visual splendor. The film basically follows a kid from the slums as he plays the aforementioned game show on his way to the grand prize of 20 million rupees. I will say that I made the, 'oh so now he's won about $57' joke at least sixteen times throughout the course of the film and it never stopped being funny. Yes I am older then 13.

Anyway, as our protagonist goes through the game the film flashes back to points in his life showing how he had a unique life experience coincidentally related to each question, allowing him to know all the answers, even though he's basically an uneducated slum kid. Really that's it (there's also a love story) and either you buy the central conceit or you don't. The film is really more magical realism than a realistic depiction of poverty (though it definitely has those elements), and if you don't get on board with that the whole thing will be unbearable. Thankfully the Director, Danny Boyle, sprinkles in enough grit, humor, and really just some crazy scenes (including someone who holes up in a bathtub filled with cash for a shootout), to keep the film from being unbearably cute and pretentious. Though the film feels a little choppy at times, and was overly broad at others, in general I cared about the characters, and was engaged throughout. As long as you're not too thrown by its fantastical underpinnings, the film worth checking out.