Millions (2004)

UK
Feature Film
Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Cinematographer: Anthony Dod Mantle
Composer: John Murphy
Cast: Alex Etel, Lewis McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan, Christopher Fulford, Pearce Quigley, Jane Hogarth

Boyle’s first foray into family entertainment, much of it filmed in my home town, Widnes, often feels like a feature length advertisement for charitable organisations, which, as far as advertisements go, are amongst the most palatable. And as condescending as it sometimes feels, one must forgive the filmmakers, as the film’s anti-greed message is a most welcome antidote to the greed-is-good Hollywood films that are normally pushed onto our children. The film follows two young brothers who find a bag full of money just a few days before the UK’s conversion to the Euro. The kind hearted Damian (the excellent Alex Etel) wants to give the money to the poor, which isn’t as easy as he thinks. The more cynical Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) wants to spend the money on material pleasures. Saints, criminals, bureaucrats and other assorted adults do their best to prevent them from achieving their goals.