Granted, Dev Patel's accent was horrible...

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We were told that Jamal and Whatsername are destined to be together because they are destined to be together. After establishing that arrangement, Boyle expects us to give him a pass on the threadbare setup and backstory behind the "relationship". They don't really have any chemistry because their interaction is limited to fretting about whatever shitty situation they're in. Oh wait, I take that back, Jamal expresses his love for her during a quiet night at the pickpocket ranch at the rip old age of seven. Good thing he's emotionally static for eleven years, or we might have to focus the movie on the infinitely more interesting stratification of Indian society.

That's kind of another thing that pissed me off: I thought Boyle fetishized India, and expected us to overlook his movie's shortcomings because we would be too busy gawking at the pretty pictures. I found this paternalistic.

The two brothers were pretty much interchangeable for the first half of the movie other than Salim's (Saleem? don't remember) asshole streak. His murder of the Fagin character did not sufficient to explain his conversion to gang life to me. The implied rape of the girlfriend was glossed over.

The plot is super gimmicky because until Jamal and the lady wind up together, the events are only good for revealing how Jamal learned a particular factoid. I felt like I was watching someone play one of those old Sierra computer games where you walk around picking up items and using them to defeat an eveil wizard or something. LOOK AT the GUN. USE GUN NAME on the GAME SHOW.

That's about it. Back to work before I'm fired.

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I believe you meant "orientalistic," not "paternalistic."

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It's sad, but I can not recommend this movie enough!

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