Feel like a 'Millionaire.'

Director Danny Boyle is entirely unpredictable. He's done the disturbing, horrific and downright scary with Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine. He's gone the romantic dramedy route with A Life Less Ordinary. And now he seems to be tapping into some warm fuzzies with heartwarm-ers like Millions and Slumdog Millionaire, and the latter might be the year's ultimate feel-good film.

Boyle's latest film centers around an Indian teen from the slums (aka slumdog), Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?" He is one question away from winning the 20 million rupee grand prize when he is arrested under suspicion of cheating. In an attempt to clear his name, Malik recounts the experiences in his life that explain why he knows the answers to all the questions. With each flashback, his true intention for going on the show is revealed...to find the love of his life.

So they're all different genres, but one thing that all Danny Boyle films share are their graphic and brutally honest images (it's possible that the baby scene in Trainspotting still haunts my dreams). Slumdog Millionaire is no exception. Although a simple love story at its core, 'Slumdog' is a vivid trip through the heart of "real" India. There is no glorifying the poverty, misery and disgustingly downtrodden conditions of the slums where Malik and his older brother, Salim, grow up. All complaints I have ever had about my childhood seemed...seem irrelevant. I have never felt so lucky in my life just sitting in a movie theater...it suddenly seemed like heaven compared to what I was viewing onscreen.

What moved me was that this isn't just a story about two people who are kept apart by a few little mishaps and misunderstandings. These are two people kept apart for over a decade by obstacles presented by a society that allows few people to ever feel safe and secure...by a neglected and rundown country and the manipulative, cruel and greedy people who control it. What they have to overcome to just find each other is what makes the story so incredible.

I know Bollywood cranks out more films than any other industry in the world, but I still don't know very many Indian actors. I think I may need to start. Of course it might also help to be able to pronounce some of these names. Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail who play Jamal and Salim Malik as little kids, respectively, were brilliant and totally adorable. Dev Patel plays the older Jamal on "Who Wants to be A Millionaire" and makes the perfect protagonist and underdog. He is slightly awkward but naive, sweet and witty. Jamal's love interest, Latika, is played by Indian model Freida Pinto who is absolutely gorgeous, but actually doesn't have that large of a part in the film.

Basically 'Slumdog' epitomizes the reason why I love going to the movies. You know that saying about how the journey is more important than the destination? Nothing could be more true when viewing this film. Although centered around "Who Wants to be A Millionaire," I really could have cared less at the end whether or not Malik correctly answered the 20 million rupee question. I know there are people out there who gag upon hearing this is a love story (I would normally be one of them), but it's a love story that successfully weaves in themes of family, trust, betrayal, redemption, destiny, courage and spirit. Even if you overlook all the potential cheesy moments of the film, you can't overlook the horrific beauty (oxymoron?) of a landscape depicted with such intensity and attention to detail without being patronizing. It's a world that we see too infrequently. Not to mention, the film features a great soundtrack (I'm a big MIA fan).

If you don't come out of this film feeling enthralled or inspired or uplifted or some combination of all these emotions, then what can I say? You have a cold, hard rock for a heart.