A fairy tale come true is what you can expect from “Slumdog Millionaire”. A tale of a poverty stricken Indian teen Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), who is a contestant on the Hindi version of “Who Wants to be A Millionaire?”, and winds up to the final round playing for the million dollars. The show’s producers insist that Jamal has somehow cheated and use any means necessary to bully him into confessing. At this point Jamal tells his story, taking us to his past and letting us know where his answers have come from. Even though he is a slum from the streets he still was educated by his every day survival.

We began with an initial flashback to when Jamal and his brother Salim watched as their mother was killed. The brothers become independent and look to each other to survive. Along the trail of survival they meet Latika, another young orphan. Jamal and Salim decide that escaping the current set up of the orphanage is their best bet at endurance. When they flee by catching a train Jamal insists on taking Latika with them, but his brother leaves her there to fend for herself.  Fast forward a couple years and Salim and Jamal reunite with an older and stunning Latika. Salim kills to save Latika from inslavement and in turn expects Jamal to leave him with Latika who has become his new “possession”.

Jamal takes off on his own. Many years later Jamal decides to search for his brother and finds him. When they reunite it is an awkward reunion, especially when Jamal’s main intent is to find Latika (Freida Pinto). Salim tells Jamal that Latika left years ago and has no idea of where she is, however when he follows his brother to see what exactly he is up to he sees that Latika is there. Latika and Salim residing at a fully guarded mansion. Jamal sneaks in and reunites with Latika to see she is being treated as a slave and being abused. Jamal begs her to meet him at the train station to escape with him. He promises he will be there and he will take her away.

Jamal waits at the station and just when it seems like hope has run out Latika shows. Jamal tries to reach her, but he sees his brother and the guards chasing after her. Jamal does everything he can to save Latika but she is forced into a getaway car where he face is cut with a knife by no other than Salim. Jamal vows to reach out to Latika, the only way he knows how is to go on her favorite TV show “Who Wants to be A Millionaire?”. When he is on the show Salim sees Latika’s pain and decides he owes not only her, but Jamal a second chance. Salim provides her with his cell phone and car keys and she heads to the production studio for the show only to find a traffic jam. Latika leaves her vehicle to watch Jamal attempt to win the million dollars. Jamal is asked his final question. A question that takes us back to his childhood with Latika and Salim. Back to a time when he referred to them as the three musketeers and had a story book about it. The final question names two of the three musketeers and asks for the final musketeers name, unable to answer this question he decides to phone a friend. But who will he call?

This fairy tale was memorizing and astounding. Director Danny Boyle defines himself with a fresh and inspiring delivery to the cinema. Simon Beaufoy offers a tale of Jamal’s love and determination to save those he loves at all costs. “Slumdog Millionaire” is an engaging and inspirational ride that will have you stating a million reasons to see it. Dev Patel and Freida Pinto offered stunning breakout performances. Nothing falls short in this film full of energy, colour, culture, and romance that will have you believing in happy endings.