Can anyone be truly good? From acclaimed director Danny Boyle 'Millions' is a refreshingly feel-good change of direction for the popular film-maker. When a railway heist goes wrong, an enormous bag of money falls from the sky into the hands of Damian and Anthony. There's only one thing to do - spend it like there's no tomorrow - because in twelve days time Britain converts to the Euro and all sterling heads for the incinerator. But how can an eight and ten-year old hope to spend a cool quarter of a million quid in just over a week? Anthony's plans create a black market in the school playground, while Damian wants to help the poor if he can find any. Oh, and the train robbers want their money back. Will they manage to spend the money before it's worthless? Will the school authorities discover what's going on? Or will the robbers get there first?
Directed by
Danny Boyle
Written by
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Starring
Alex Etel (Damian); Lewis McGibbon (Anthony); James Nesbitt (Ronnie); Daisy Donovan (Dorothy); Christopher Fulford (The Man); 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). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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Plenty of potential, but eliminates its target audience
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Limited Recommendation
This is a strange little film. I thought it was quite good at first, and gave my inital verdict as 'recommended' but in all honesty I can't say now that I would recommend this to someone - for the simple reason I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to. It's a great shame as the film is focussed on a couple of young boys and so could appeal well to a young audience, and the overall message is about being good and doing the right thing, and there's a nice acknowledgement of the Saints throughout the film too. But with the inclusion of a few swear words, the film eliminates its target audience; I wouldn't want my little niece watching this film until at least she was 13, by which time I could think of many other films I'd recommend to her before this one. There's also the strange inclusion of St. Clare smoking a cigarette, which I know is supposed to be light-hearted, but cigarette smoking is a bad thing; it leads to death, its associated with people that are anxious in some way - in heaven there will be no anxiety and no death. It's just a strange thing to include. So overall a wasted opportunity in my opinion, but I hope the producers try again along similar lines.
