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| Tookey's Review |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
2005 |
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| Genre: |
DRAMA
FANTASY
FOREIGN
THRILLER
FAMILY
COMEDY
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| Origin: |
UK/ US |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
97 |
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A family film that’s a mess, but full of charm, invention and funny ideas.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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It’s about two young Mancunian brothers of 7 and 9, appealingly played by Alex Etel (pictured left) and Lewis McGibbon (right), who come by a couple of hundred thousand pounds in a bag that literally falls out of the sky. The comedy arises from their attempts to spend it or launder it in the last few days leading up to the UK’s abandonment of the pound and adoption of the Euro. |
| (Yes, we’re talking fantasy here.) |
The younger, frecklier and more religious of the two children sees dead people, in the form of saints he’s read about (these include Alun Armstrong, who turns up as an improbably Geordie Saint Peter). |
The child also encounters a sinner (Christopher Fulford), one of the robbers whose money they have found. One of the film’s biggest problems is that the robbers’ actions aren’t believable, and Fulford’s menace seems to have been toned down to earn a child-friendly certificate (even so, it warrants a 12A, and might give small children nightmares). |
Director Danny Boyle’ previous output has included such distinctly non-family films as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and the zombie flick 28 Days Later. Here, he starts off with enormous drive and confidence, as though trying to do a child-friendly version of Amelie, though he finds this style impossible to sustain. |
The normally dour writer Frank Cottrell Boyce (Hilary and Jackie, Welcome to Sarajevo) mixes in some enjoyably offbeat comments on modern living. He’s especially funny about the skewed priorities and apologetic uselessness of our present-day police. |
The film preaches a message of charity towards the third world, but at other times looks suspiciously materialistic and acquisitive. Its confusion is thoroughly Blairite, and that’s not meant as a compliment. |
Millions isn’t fast-moving or exciting enough to appeal to children, and the adults who would most appreciate its mixture of hard-edged cynicism and feelgood soppiness won’t pay to see a film that’s so obviously designed to be wish-fulfilment for the young. Much of Millions is fresh and endearingly quirky, and part of me would love it to be a hit. But I don’t believe in miracles.
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, Anthony: Lewis McGibbon 