Movie Review Millions

Millions (2004) 

Directed by Danny Boyle

Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce 

Starring Alex Etel, Lewis Owen McGibbon, James Nesbitt 

Release Date September 14th, 2004 

Published December 18th, 2004 

After films like Trainspotting and 28 Days Later the last thing you would expect from director Danny Boyle would be a heartfelt family movie. That is, however, exactly what Mr. Boyle delivers with Millions, a wonderfully imaginative and elegant family film about a good-hearted kid and the circumstances, both good and bad, that accompany trying to do what you feel is right.

Damian (Alex Etel) is not your average 8 year-old. Sure, most kids develop imaginary friends, but I'm sure that for most kids those imaginary friends aren't Saints, literally Catholic saints. Damian has spent much of his life, since the death of his mother, memorizing the miracles of the saints as well as their dates of birth and death.

Naturally Damian's unique hobby is not a boon to his social life in his new neighborhood and school where he has moved with his brother Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) and his father Ronnie (James Nesbitt). Thus Damian spends much of his free time in his ramshackle cardboard fort that he built himself behind his home, just a few feet from the railroad tracks.

While playing in his new fort one day a giant bag filled to overflow with cash crushes the fort. Damian, being as devout as he is, believes the money is a gift from God and intends to give as much of it away as possible to whomever needs it the most. Damian's brother Anthony, who's help Damian in distributing his newfound wealth, has more practical ideas for how to use the money.

Both boys deal with the loss of their mother in their own ways and that is a storyline that comes into sharper focus when Damian meets Dorothy (Daisy Donovan), who is organizing a fundraiser in his school to fight drought in Africa. Damian gives her a thousand British pounds which, not surprisingly, leads to the headmaster calling his father. Ronnie and Dorothy meet and strike up a relationship that tests both brothers' ability to deal with their mother's death. Not to mention how dad deals with his sons' new found wealth.

About ten years ago there was an American movie quite similar to Millions called Disney's Blank Check in which a kid came into a million dollars and used the money in typically American fashion to buy video games, high end electronics and to outwit a bad guy who had stolen the money. Millions, in its more generous fashion, seems uniquely British in its approach to Damian.  It is a more high-minded, innocent approach that is far more appealing than the puerile approach of Blank Check.

There is a bad guy in Millions played by Christopher Fulford who had stolen the money in the first place and he is quite menacing in his attempts to retrieve it. However, Millions never stoops to the kind of American style, cartoon violence of the Home Alone variety. Director Danny Boyle and Writer Frank Cottrell Boyce take an approach that many writers and directors could learn from.  Their method of developing their plot is steady, stylized, intelligent but sweet-natured and it is satisfying in its simplicity.

Millions is the kind of family movie Hollywood cannot or will not make. Minimal special effects, no talking pets or unnecessary violence. Millions is a smart, imaginative character piece with a terrific heart. Hollywood can make this movie in animated form but without talking animals delivering the smart, heartfelt dialogue, audiences just do not seem interested.

It's a shame because not only is Millions a very good family film, it's also quite funny. A scene near the end of the film when Damian steals away with his millions in his knapsack, still dressed in a school pageant costume with cardboard donkey in tow is tense because Damian is unknowingly being chased by the bad guy, but is also wonderfully absurd in the classically British sense.

There are a number of wonderfully humorous scenes in Millions, many coming from the innocent verbal interplay of the two young brothers. Both Alex Etel and Lewis McGibbon deliver witty and wonderful performances notable for their lack of terminal cuteness. These are a pair of terrific young actors with bright futures ahead of them should they continue acting.

The film even manages a wondrous bit of romance in the much smaller subplot involving James Nesbitt as the dad and Daisy Donovan's Dorothy. The two are required by the plot to fall for each other rather quickly but the romance never feels rushed because it is well written and because both Nesbitt and Donovan are tremendously likable actors.

Millions began its slow rollout across America around the same time as the Vin Diesel "Family Movie" The Pacifier, and while it was no contest at the box office, given the sheer volume of screens for The Pacifier, that movie provides the perfect counterpoint to Millions. The Pacifier is a big, dumb, loud family movie dumbed down for mass consumption, built to sell popcorn and soft drinks. Millions is smart and sweet and was created to tell a particular story in a way that is both entertaining and enlightening.

Which do you prefer? I'll go with Millions every time.