1 of 5

Millions Our rating: Your rating:   MPAA rating: PG (for thematic elements, language, some peril and mild sensuality) Theater release: March 11, 2005 by Fox Searchlight Directed by: Danny Boyle Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes Cast: James Nesbitt (Ronnie Cunningham), Daisy Donovan (Dorothy), Alex Etel (Damian Cunningham), Lewis McGibbon (Anthony Cunningham), Kolade Agboke (Ambrosio) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

A particularly reliable source once said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." When he said this, he was referring to children like Damian.

Damian is the young hero of Millions, and you've never encountered a hero quite like him. Unlike the Bart Simpsons and Malcolms in the middle of most family entertainment, Damian is not a self-interested troublemaker. He's not defiant toward authority. Instead, he's brave, imaginative, charming, unpredictable, and utterly virtuous. He's also painfully naïve, and that's why, in his quest to deliver an unexpected fortune to the needy, he's in a world of danger.

Damian (Alex Etel) is unlike any boy hero you've ever encountered

The Unexpected Fortune has been the premise of quite a few comedies—most of them awful. But Millions comes from the hyperactive imagination of genre-leaping director Danny Boyle, and it's wise, meaningful, laugh-out-loud funny, and relentlessly inventive. In fact, it's 2005's first fiction film to deserve the word "fantastic." It's not just a brilliant family film—it's a brilliant film. Given the proper promotion, its contagiously high spirits could turn it into an Amelie-sized international hit. But Millions probably doesn't have what it takes (i.e., sex and violence) to be an opening-weekend blockbuster in America, so it's more likely to build momentum over time, as viewers come back from the theaters to tell their friends about it, wearing ridiculous grins on their faces.

More than any other film, Millions recalls Mike Newell's sorely underrated adventure film Into the West. In that film, two irresistible Irish boys discovered an enchanted horse that carried them through a period of mourning after the loss of their mother. In Millions, two boys who've also lost their mother, 8-year-old Damian (Alex Etel) and his 10-year-old brother Anthony (Lewis McGibbon), share an altogether different secret—one that's much easier to hide than a horse, but much harder to manage, and it ends up dividing them.

Boyle keeps us immersed for most of the movie in a world of visual splendor, reacquainting us with the energy and possibility of pre-teen adventures, only occasionally reminding us of darker realities like the nearby nuclear power plant. We see Damian and Anthony bicycling ecstatically through a vibrant field of yellow flowers, exhilarated as they explore the territory of a new housing development that will give them and their father (James Nesbitt) a whole new start—just the guys. Lying on the lot for their new house, they stare skyward and imagine their future, which appears above them beam by beam, tile by tile, materializing out of thin air in a dazzling flourish.

Lewis McGibbon and Alex Etel play the young brothers

But when a suitcase stuffed with cash comes tumbling into Damian's lap—literally—things change for better and for worse. Damian decides that the money was sent by God, and thus should be used to help the poor, while Anthony, already embittered by the encroaching realities of adulthood, frets about the 40 percent tax rate applied to sudden fortunes, and decides to use the money selfishly and covertly.

Despite their differences, the brothers must act quickly. Soon, British pounds will be replaced by the new Euros, so they've got to spend it, give it away, or find a way to inconspicuously exchange the bills into new currency. Finding a wise solution proves difficult. Worse, it seems easier to use the money selfishly than generously. Meanwhile, a menacing figure lurks about on the edge of the neighborhood, looking for the lost loot.

Damian is the lens through which we experience this story, and we fall in love with him. That's largely because young Alex Etel is completely convincing; he perfectly manifests Damian's conflicts and conscience. Damian's virtue and vision stem from his unquestioning belief that God exists and is working everything together for good. He's so open to grace and miracle that he's prone to celebrating the arrival of envelopes that declare "You may already have won 10,000 pounds!"

next page... |  1 of 5 | last page

Related Elsewhere:

Movies with Morals	Printer view
Versatile director Danny Boyle, the man behind Millions, has made some inventive films that are quite steeped in stories of morality. But he's a little reluctant to admit it ….