With "Millions" director Danny Boyle shows that he's more than comfortable in making films that are not necessarily about dark subjects and he once again proves that he's one of the more versatile directors working today. Story is set in a new housing area outside of Liverpool, England where we see 7 year old Damian (Alex Etel) who has built a cardboard fort next to the train tracks and he frequently talks to the images of various saints throughout history.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Damian and his older brother Anthony (Lewis Owen McGibbon) have lost their mother and have moved to a new home with their father Ronnie (James Nesbitt) but things change even more when a bag of money is tossed from a train and lands on Damian's fort. In the bag is 265,000 pounds and the two brothers now must try and figure out what to do with it but they (of course) start spending it although Damian wants to give it to the poor. One day a mysterious stranger starts hanging around the neighborhood and it doesn't take long for him to figure out that young Damian has his money and proceeds to threaten him to get it back.
The premise of the story sounds simple but the truth of the matter is that there is a lot more going on in this film than what I have described and I haven't even mentioned the incredible visual style that really separates this from your basic "kid finds a bag of loot" script. In the story Damian talks to all the famous saints throughout history and asks them for advice and this part of the script gives viewers the thought that he's in need of guidance that maybe his own father can't give. The visuals that highlight this film are not just put in for style but are used to push along the story and give certain scenes a depth that they probably wouldn't normally have including the scene where their future home is constructed right before our eyes. My only quibble comes at the end where Damian meets his dead mother for one last chat which I found totally irrelevant and I don't know why filmmakers think that audiences need to view this like it gives some sort of (unnecessary) closure for the character. Aside from that one of the main strengths of this film comes from the fact that the script isn't really aimed at a younger audience (per say) but like "Whale Rider" it's an effort that has young characters in the lead and with any luck other directors and screenwriters will pick up on this because this is a splendid film.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Damian and his older brother Anthony (Lewis Owen McGibbon) have lost their mother and have moved to a new home with their father Ronnie (James Nesbitt) but things change even more when a bag of money is tossed from a train and lands on Damian's fort. In the bag is 265,000 pounds and the two brothers now must try and figure out what to do with it but they (of course) start spending it although Damian wants to give it to the poor. One day a mysterious stranger starts hanging around the neighborhood and it doesn't take long for him to figure out that young Damian has his money and proceeds to threaten him to get it back.
The premise of the story sounds simple but the truth of the matter is that there is a lot more going on in this film than what I have described and I haven't even mentioned the incredible visual style that really separates this from your basic "kid finds a bag of loot" script. In the story Damian talks to all the famous saints throughout history and asks them for advice and this part of the script gives viewers the thought that he's in need of guidance that maybe his own father can't give. The visuals that highlight this film are not just put in for style but are used to push along the story and give certain scenes a depth that they probably wouldn't normally have including the scene where their future home is constructed right before our eyes. My only quibble comes at the end where Damian meets his dead mother for one last chat which I found totally irrelevant and I don't know why filmmakers think that audiences need to view this like it gives some sort of (unnecessary) closure for the character. Aside from that one of the main strengths of this film comes from the fact that the script isn't really aimed at a younger audience (per say) but like "Whale Rider" it's an effort that has young characters in the lead and with any luck other directors and screenwriters will pick up on this because this is a splendid film.