Themes: Rags To Riches, Race Against Time, Crime Gone Awry
Main Cast: Alex Etel, Lewis Owen McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan, Christopher Fulford
Release Year: 2004
Country: UK
Run Time: 97 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Director Danny Boyle revisits a theme from his Shallow Grave and Trainspotting days -- greed -- but focuses on a much younger protagonist with this comedy drama. Millions opens with recent widower Ronnie (James Nesbitt) moving his two precocious pre-pubescent sons to the suburbs. Missing his mother and the comforts of his old neighborhood, the young Damian (Alex Etel) builds a cardboard-box fort on the outskirts of the suburb, where one day his placid introvert existence is literally crushed by a giant gym bag full of thousands of pounds' worth of cash. Less concerned with the origin of the money than with how to spend it, Damian and his older brother, Anthony (Lewis McGibbon), decide to keep it a secret from their father, which becomes an increasingly tricky proposition as the days pass. His conscience getting in the way of his spending, Damian debates the ethics of his ill-gotten gains with a handful of imaginary saints, and begins to try to spend his cash a little more altruistically. But his charitable deeds inadvertently attract the attention of a mysterious, threatening man who's desperate to get his hands on the money. Marking a distinct change of pace for Boyle after the horror film 28 Days Later, Millions world-premiered at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Review
Much as David Lynch did with The Straight Story, Millions finds Danny Boyle abandoning his fondness for violence, instead directing a family film that delves into magical realism. Boyle takes the striking visual techniques from Trainspotting and 28 Days Later and applies them to a children's fantasy populated by haloed saints. It's busy, colorful, cheery -- and ultimately scattershot. With swarming images and a relentless music-box soundtrack (by John Murphy), Boyle tends to overwhelm what should be a simple story about two brothers distributing 229,000 pounds before a monetary conversion renders the currency worthless. Millions exists some time in the nebulous future, and its frenetic dream-like quality deepens the effect. Even if the film doesn't work on all levels, it's worth applauding. Child actor Alex Etel turns in an earnest performance that's as accomplished as Freddie Highmore's in Finding Neverland. He gives great voice to the whimsical chatter in Frank Cottrell Boyce's screenplay, which, in a particularly British and particularly endearing form of artifice, is just a little too sophisticated for a child. Trusting to a fault, Etel proceeds through his magical world with total naïveté, which makes him impervious to real-world harms. Namely, the shady character (a menacing Christopher Fulford) creeping around his attic, which serves as a nod to Boyle's first film, Shallow Grave. That's just one of several ways the film fits comfortably into Boyle's oeuvre, including his intermittent use of over-exposed and richly colorized film stock. Like most Boyle films, though, Millions is just flawed enough to give pause. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Pearce Quigley - Community Policeman; Jane Hogarth - Mum; Alun Armstrong - St. Peter; Enzo Cilenti - St. Francis; Nasser Memarzia - St. Joseph; Kathryn Pogson - St. Clare; Harry Kirkham - St. Nicholas; Cornelius Macarthy - Gonzaga; Kolade Agboke - Ambrosio; Leslie Phillips - Himself
Credit
Mark Digby - Supervising Art Director, Gail Stevens - Casting, Beverley Keogh - Casting, Tracey Seaward - Co-producer, Susannah Buxton - Costume Designer, Richard Styles - First Assistant Director, Danny Boyle - Director, Chris Gill - Editor, David M. Thompson - Executive Producer, Cameron Mccracken - Executive Producer, François Ivernel - Executive Producer, Duncan Reid - Executive Producer, Roseanne Samuel - Hair Styles, John Murphy - Composer (Music Score), Roseanne Samuel - Makeup, Mark Tildesley - Production Designer, Anthony Dod Mantle - Cinematographer, Damian Jones - Producer, Graham Broadbent - Producer, Andrew Hauptman - Producer, Richard Conway - Special Effects, Dennis Cartwright - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank Cottrell Boyce - Screenwriter, Brian Tufano - Second Unit Camera, Daf Hobson - Second Unit Camera, Peter Bach - Visual Effects Supervisor, Neal Scanlan Studio - Animatronic Effects, Mark Tildesley - Second Unit Assistant Director
