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The dagbuzz for 2/22/09: (Slumdog, the Oscars and a Happy Ending I Can Live With)

by Deadman 2/22/2009 - 5:21 am   |

I usually hate happy endings in movies. They may be fine for movies like Rudy, but for many films, happy endings often ring false and feel like cheap cop-outs. Yet for reasons I explain in the video below, I actually enjoyed the ultra-gooey finale of Slumdog Millionaire.

Perhaps because America's economic story and outlook has become almost as depressing as the childhood of Slumdog protaganist Jamal Malik, it's somehow fitting that we allow ourselves to be gloriously deluded by inspiring, well-earned Hollywood ending bullshit.

After all, isn't that on some level what our faith in Barack Obama is all about - the ability to believe in happy endings despite the overwhelming obstacles in our way and the sheer absurdity of such beliefs.

Other Best Picture nominees this year have displayed some strikingly relevant themes for our time, but no film fits the current zeitgeist better than Slumdog Millionaire. Here's hoping the movie gets its own happy ending and wins the Best Picture award.

Official: Obama plans to slash deficit in half (AP)

Stuffing the Oscar Ballot: The Populist Take on the Odds

See video

I didn't see Slumdog Millionaire as some epic romance where the couple is finally united against all odds. I saw it more as a movie about a kid who comes from nothing, grows up with one single goal in mind, and purses that goal relentlessly. So, when he gets the girl in the end, it felt to me like he was achieving a goal rather than getting the girl. And I loved the movie for all its colors and music and creative storytelling. I am sure it will win tonight.

That said, sometimes I do love the schmaltzy ending, but it has to be in a movie that is not overreaching. Take Jerry Maguire" as an example. I loved that movie because it was exactly what it was trying to be. And the ending fit. I've been beating up on Benjamin Button, but it deserves it. The movie tried to be important and profound, but it wasn't, so it just ended up being boring. 

So, that's why I have movies like Bend It Like Beckham and Bull Durham on my top movies list over at A-man's thread. Are they important and profound movies? No. But all they're trying to be is fun and that's why they're great. I almost put The Man from Snowy River on my list because I have seen that movie over and over again since I was in seventh grade and it never gets old. But since I might be the only person in the universe who would rate is as a great movie, I refrained. You'd probably hate it. He gets the girl and the music playing as he does is ever cheesier than Bollywood.

by Orlando 2/22/2009 - 9:34 am

never saw man from snowy river. bull durham and bend it are solid movies, tho.

(SLUMDOG SPOILER ALERT)

I like your thinking on slumdog, but there was certainly an alternative to the ending that would have still been happy, just not quite as happy as the current one, where he gets the girl but not the money. In fact, in some ways, such an ending could have made more sense, in that the pursuit of money was a source of much of Jamal's ills (note the last scene with Salim in the bathtub full of bills) and all Jamal was searching for the requitement of his love.

I'm guessing there was probably some discussion about whether he should get that final question right or not. I could see him missing it and still being just as deliriously happy because he knows latika is safe, couldn't you? But like I said, I thought the ending as it was was awesome even if it was very gooey!!

by Deadman 2/22/2009 - 9:55 am (re: Orlando)

I like The Man From Snowy River, and in fact I own it.  I also own and like The Man From Laramie.  (What a title convention that was.)

Bend It Like Beckham is as you say a nice small film.  I had a lot of those on my list.  Some, like Gerry, are very small.

by Articleman 2/22/2009 - 10:27 am (re: Orlando)

I really liked this DailyBuzz Deadman.

by dijamo 2/22/2009 - 1:56 pm

I'm just trying to see if other people are having this issue of not being able to see embedded videos. Starting last night, all of the embedded YouTube videos in posts seem to have gone blank. Is it just my browser? Any idea how to fix it?

thanks

by Deadman 2/23/2009 - 12:22 pm

Not a problem for me. Try clearing your browser cache.

by Michael Wolraich 2/23/2009 - 12:39 pm (re: Deadman)

thanks! that did it.

by Deadman 2/23/2009 - 4:21 pm (re: Genghis)

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