Slumdog Millionaire: The Year’s Best Movie

By Nolan Caldwell
Staff Writer

Most movie recommendations I receive from friends are complete pieces of garbage. Either the films’ appeal is found in tacky explosions and big-breasted women or some historical chronicle of a man’s life.

So my expectations were low when a close friend recommended we see the new movie SlumDog Millionare. Before I agreed to see it, I first checked my trusty ratings on rottentomatoes.com and was blown away with a 94% approval rate from all viewers! I had never seen a reviewing that high before! This unheard-of rating made me quickly change my expectations from garbage movie to movie of the year!

Despite the extremely high expectations I had (which usually leads to letdowns and disappointments *cough* New Indiana Jones Movie *cough*) walking into the movie theater at Embarcadero, I can say without reservation that SlumDog Millionaire surpassed every feeling I had that evening. With all due reverence for great movies of the past, I can easily proclaim that SlumDog Millionaire ranks in the top five movies of all time! The tough question was not whether or not it ranked that high, but which of the other greats would now be displaced to the humble #6 position.

The movie takes place in modern day Mumbai, India, and follows the life of two brothers in the slum they were raised in. Filled with social commentary, action and love, SlumDog Millionaire manages to appeal to every facet of human emotions. No movie in a long, long time has been able to draw me in as much as this one. I found myself talking to the characters on the screen as if I had some personal investment in the outcomes of their life.

As I drove away from the theatre, I sat not only in reverence of what I had witnessed but was seized by an immediate desire to see the movie AGAIN.

SlumDog Millionaire won several awards at this week’s Golden Globe awards and should be steeped in acclaim at the Academy Awards, although I fear for the worst when Marley & Me and Yes Man can gross higher ticket sales.

Despite my fears of the Academy Awards, I come to you today to not only review a new movie, but whole-heartedly encourage you to scrape together $10 and see this movie with your friends, coworkers and love interests! You will not be disappointed!

Nolan Caldwell is a second-year medical student.