Last night I finally got to a screening of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE — FOX SEARCHLIGHT’s buzzed about upcoming release from TRAINSPOTTING director DANNY BOYLE.
The premise is unique: A teenager from the slums of Mumbai goes on India’s WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? and beats the odds by answering every question correctly; the story is told flashback style, revealing how he acquired the random bits of knowledge needed to get them all right.
Originally my interest was piqued reviewers calling SM this year’s LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE or JUNO — both Searchlight films as well. But then everything I read from critics was ranting against the MPAA’s decision to slap an R-rating on the feel-good flick, including this comment baiter from VULTURE.
So I took notes while I watched the film last night, and the only things I spotted were a few instances of violence, two f-bombs and a naked kid running around screaming about his willy.
While you won’t be able to weigh in on this debate until the film is released on November 12th, I’m wondering: Do you think that the fact that is a indie movie about a highly-politicized part of the world had anything to do with the MPAA’s staunch stance?
I’m sitting down with Boyle this afternoon to chat about Slumdog and plan to ask him the same thing; check back for his response later this week.