MONEY, MIRACLES, AND SAINTS

MILLIONS
Directed by Danny Boyle; written by Frank Cottrell Boyce; cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle; music by John Murphy; editing by Chris Gill; production design by Mark Tildesley; art direction by Denis Schnegg; costume design by Susannah Buxton; special effects by Evan Green-Hughes
With: Alexander Nathan Etel, Lewis Owen McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan, Christopher Fulford, Pearce Quigley, and Jane Hogarth. Rated PG for thematic elements, language, some peril, and mild sensuality. Running time: 98 minutes



Reviewed by Joel Johnson

Reducing a film to a one-sentence description of just a handful of words can fail so miserably to capture what a film is really all about. Writing about film as a reviewer, I’ve written more than a few sentences that have failed to convey exactly what I wanted to say about a film. This single sentence—“A quirky comic tale of two young boys who stumble upon the haul from a bank robbery”—is the film’s entire description on the BBC Films (one of Millions’s production partners) website. This is generally an accurate description of the film, yet it doesn’t capture what the film is about and completely failed to make me want to see it. The description sounds like it should be a children’s Afterschool Special. It took knowing the film was directed by Danny Boyle and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, two of the more interesting voices in British cinema, to make me want to see the film. I’ve been following their work for the last decade.

Shallow Grave (1994) was the first film by Danny Boyle that I saw. It had a trio who share an apartment discovering their new roommate has shown up DOA with lots of cash. Figuring out what to do with the money and the deceased was the catalyst for a black-humored drama that turned into a modest art house hit. Boyle followed that with the exhilarating Edinburgh-set Trainspotting (1996), showing the intensity, madness, and desperation of heroin addiction. This film’s success allowed him to try his hand at so-called Hollywood filmmaking, first with the romantic comedy A Life Less Ordinary (1997) and then with the failed utopia drama The Beach (2000), best known for being Leonardo DiCaprio’s first film after Titanic. Neither was especially well received. Boyle then made two 70+ minute films for the BBC that appeared together on the festival circuit in 2001, Strumpet and Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise. Vacuuming featured a tour-de-force performance by Timothy Spall as a hyperkinetic, single-minded vacuum cleaner salesman. Most recently, Boyle delivered the edgy zombie horror film 28 Days Later (2003) [review available on the Wolf Moon Press Journal website]. Though tackling very different types of stories in his films, they share a dark edge of cynicism, a wry sense of humor, and a very adult sensibility.

Frank Cottrell Boyce has written for television and worked with several directors—most notably with Anand Tucker on the award-winning Hilary and Jackie—but has worked most often with British director Michael Winterbottom. They have collaborated on seven films. They have done a love triangle in Forget About Me (1990); a lesbian Bonnie and Clyde in Butterfly Kiss (1995); news reporters coping in a war zone in Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), reimagining Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge as a western in The Claim (2000); portraying Manchester’s wild punk music scene in 24 Hour Party People (2002); the futuristic sci-fi Code 46 (2003); and the yet-to-be released A Cock and Bull Story, based on Laurence Sterne’s eighteenth-century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Boyce has written screenplays for films that may be even darker, more cynical, and ironic than Boyle’s. Needless to say, their intended audience was very definitely adult.

That is why it was, on the one hand, so surprising to have these two collaborating on a film about children and yet, on the other, to make that film much more intriguing than its own promotional synopsis made it appear. However, neither the inclusion of the word “quirky” in the one-sentence description nor the filmmakers’ past work that has exemplified quirky fully prepared me for what they had created.

What they have done so well is to portray children’s perceptions of the world and, especially, their imagination and concept of morality. The story’s focus, the happenchance of sudden wealth, is similar to that of Shallow Grave. While the serendipitous arrival of a huge amount of money unleashes malevolence in Shallow Grave, Millions is different in a number of ways. One is that the hundreds of thousands of pounds arrive just days before Britain converts to the Euro, and making pound notes worthless creates a great urgency to do “whatever” with the money. This currency transition is scheduled between Christmas and New Years. However, most important, the money’s arrival is evaluated through the contrasting perceptions of two young brothers. The elder ten-year-old brother Anthony (Lewis Owen McGibbon) has internalized the world’s pursuit of money and material things, but the seven-year-old brother Damian (Alexander Nathan Etel) has an other-worldly fascination with the lives of saints and wants so very much to lead a righteous life. Both boys—as well as their father (James Nesbitt)—are coping with the loss of their mother (Jane Hogarth). The boys have, however, learned that their tragedy can be used to obtain preferred treatment. When Damian’s generosity draws the attention of Dorothy (Daisy Donovan), a woman promoting a charity that provides clean water for poor villages in the developing world, she meets the boys’ father. Anthony blames his brother for this interloper. The boys eventually learn that the money came from a train robbery, and it was not simply, as Damian had initially concluded, a gift from God. Soon there is a sinister man curious about the boys and what they may have found. This film’s feel-good empathy for its characters is tempered by an undercurrent of uncertainty and danger.

There is very effective use of bright colors and crisp images in Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography to give the film a heavenly glow. Special effects have added a whimsical energy to the film that is augmented in the music by John Murphy. All that has been done to emphasize the lightness and uplifting emotions in the story is counterbalanced, albeit briefly, by images and sound to accent the story’s conflicts and sense of threat.

There is effective acting by the entire ensemble, but this is especially true for the film’s youthful protagonists, who have the lion’s share of the screen time. The two young actors resemble each other closely enough that they easily appear believable as brothers. While both boys are appealingly cute, Alexander Nathan Etel’s younger brother provides an angelic presence that quickly secures audience sympathy.

The film touches on several important issues. It introduces saints and their faith to contemporary audiences. It provides a catalyst for discussing money and morality. It helps us to address how to honor the memory of a loved one who has passed away, how to heal from that loss, and how to move on to establish new relationships. It affirms family relationships. Ultimately, there is a message that provides a powerful affirmation for everyone who tries to make a difference for someone else. It is a beautiful movie that probably will engage and entertain adults and children age six and above. It certainly did that for me. I loved this movie. Since Millions premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival during September 2004, I don’t understand why—with its many Christmas references—this family-friendly film was not released during the holiday season. Then again, maybe it was that one-sentence description. “Quirky” and “bank robbery” don’t usually add up to “Christmas Movie,” but with Millions they do.   

 

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