Millions

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Movie Review by Almiro Jorge

Starring: Alex Etel, Lewis McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan

Director: Danny Boyle

A beautifully calculated morality story!!

Seven year-old Damian Cunningham (Alexander Nathan Etel) and his brother Anthony are moving to a quiet north England neighbourhood with their father after the untimely death of their mother. A suitcase full of cash falls from the sky into Damian’s cardboard-box hideout. He begins using the money for saintly deeds by giving it to people in need. Anthony, the older and more realistic of the two brothers, plans on investing the money in property.

Both of them decide that it would be wise not to tell their father about the find as they would have to pay tax on it. The unfortunate deadline is that Britain will bid farewell to the pound and greet the Euro in less than a week. The money will have to be spent or exchanged before the target date, or it will be lost.

Having extensive knowledge of the passed saints, Damian continues on his quest to help the poor aided by his visions of them. Anthony, on the other hand, finds an efficient way to be accepted at school and bribes his way to popularity. Before long the two youngsters realise that having the money causes more problems than not having money at all.

Director Danny Boyle makes an amazing move from the dynamic TRAINSPOTTING and 28 DAYS LATER to a tender family film in MILLIONS, although some of the scenes might be slightly weighty for the younger viewers. With some magically innovative visual games, Boyle masterfully draws us into the film through the eyes of those two children: an accurate and moralistic view into British consumerism and an allegory of greed vs. piety.

With clever special effects and beautifully framed shots, Boyle succeeds in entertaining the viewers while discerning the messages he wants to convey in a different sort of art family film.

This one is worth a trip to the movies.

5 out of 6 stars