Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: The Verge

After all of the Oscar buzz has settled, "Slumdog Millionaire" proved to be the one-in-a-million film it was promised to be.

The movie follows one Mumbai teen, Jamal Malik, as he travels through life in hopes to find love and rise from the slums he was destined to live in.

The plot puts Malik on the set of the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," and it bluntly asks you how he got there.

Along the way we meet Malik's best friend Salim and the love of his life, Latika, through flashbacks that explain how and why he knows the answers to the questions he is asked.

These characters prove to be crucial to the storyline, and they are some of the most developed characters in the film.

The acting is superb by the young and inexperienced cast and not once, did I find myself questioning the casting director.

With no big named actors and actresses it is easy to see how this movie could have been looked over, but the storyline - based on a novel by Vikas Swarup - and the brilliant directing by Danny Boyle made this movie worthy of all eight of the Oscars it took home last Sunday including best picture and best director.

The unique cinematography throughout the film and the sounds of Mumbai set the tone of the film, and it helps you live vicariously through the characters with no questions asked.

The hopes and desires of each character become your aspirations as well.

The movie has a little bit of something for all moviegoers.

Some scenes prove to be delightfully grotesque without showing the outcome of the violence.

Other scenes depict blind love in the finest of fashions.

All of which are needed to tell the complex chain of events that is Jamal Malik's life.

Chris Dickens, the film editor, also received an Academy Award for the fast cuts and great vision the film uses as Malik's hectic life unfolds before your eyes.

The feel good story of the year is driven home by the fact that it stands as a true depiction of what is happening in some other countries.

As the sun beats down on the cluttered landscapes, it shows you just how good some people have it in America.

Look past the hype and you will be able to tell that "Slumdog Millionaire" deserves all the recognition it gets.

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