slumdog millionaire

sucked in i was to the hype surrounding this film
hadn't seen the trailer or read/seen any reviews
so i was totally swayed by the official publicity
plaudits being tossed out by golden globe awards, etc
but is that a warning rather than a recommendation?
(or is that the film snob in me coming out)
anyway a minute or 2 into the film and doubts creeping in
it's very loud, very bold, very colourful, very fast
clearly the result of a big idea matched by a big budget
a rags to riches story of winner takes all - money and girl
the centrepiece of this story is the set of a tv show
the indian version of who wants to be a millionaire
our young handsome star coolly dealing with each question
we are provided flashbacks to explain his choice of answer
so that each question remarkably relates to a life experience
these experiences in chronological order with the questions
so we get a thorough telling of the story of his life
born and raised in the squalor of the slums of mumbai
losing his mother quite pointedly at the hands of muslims
then on the run with his older brother and a girl he befriends
it's all rough going for the trio as they beg, steal, hoodwink for food
providing the means for big brother to turn to crime
and in the ultimate betrayal he steals the girl from our hero
a fairly simple storyline told with a sledgehammer approach
pulsating and very loud music often used with clever visual effects
so that at times it felt like a series of big budget music videos
all with very rich and colourful imagery to keep the eyes locked in
our 3 young stars are of course all very good-looking
all other actors perfecting looking their part - never mind the acting
the overweight thug, the ostentatious crime boss, the sleazy game-show host
it occurred to me some time in that i had well and truely been taken
for this film was no more than a big-budget bollywood production
western values laid in to give it international appeal
the tv game show, the name-dropping, the music all quite deliberate
and so it was that i basically lost interest and went into cruise mode
then also noticed that the theatre i was in was almost full
so then also i felt a twinge of anxiety about this film
a combination of location and the sometimes use of sub-titles
would probably mean it gets classified as a foreign film
but to me it was nothing like the typical film of that genre
too much westernisation, too much crass acting, too much bollywood
including the overt dance scene on the train station at the end
it's going to be loved - fair enough
but not by me.....next!!!