New DVD releases

May 31 2009 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

wSLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (15) is a phenomenon. Originally it was just going to be released on DVD, but it’s just as well director Danny Boyle persuaded them to release it in cinemas. It went on to receive more than 100 award nominations around the world and take home eight Oscars. With so much hype, there’s a chance you might be disappointed, as it’s not the best film ever. But there’s still plenty to enjoy about the tale of Jamal Malik (played by three boys, though mainly Dev Patel).

The film starts with him taking part in the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. He grew up in a Mumbai slum and now makes tea in a call centre, so the quiz-makers are convinced he’s cheating. They call in the police who beat him up, forcing him to explain how he knows the answers to each question. He tells the story of his life, which we see in flashback. We watch him fall in love with Latika (Freida Pinto, pictured with Patel) and see his gripping battle to find her again. Highly implausible at times, Slumdog Millionaire is also full of suspense, wit and romance.

Be warned, though, that it’s not all the uplifting tale it has been painted. Yes, there’s a happy ending, but there are moments of shocking violence too.

wTHE WRESTLER (15) saw Mickey Rourke nominated for an Oscar, marking his incredible comeback in a true life story which mirrors the film’s plot. He plays Randy Robinson, a wrestler 20 years past his prime who struggles on. After one particularly violent bout involving barbed wire and a staple gun, he’s rushed to hospital with a heart attack and told to give up wrestling. Can he survive another fight? Can he make it up to the daughter, Evan Rachel Wood, he’s barely seen? And can he find love with lap dancer Marisa Tomei?

Rourke’s performance is good in a funny and moving, if slow-going, film.