|
|
MILLIONS
January 16, 2006
"I just want to be good."
Millions is directed by Danny Boyle, who directed Trainspotting, which I felt was the best movie of 1996 and remains a volatile hand grenade. Since then, I've found that I tend to enjoy every other Danny Boyle movie. I loved Trainspotting, was terribly disappointed by A Life Less Ordinary, liked The Beach quite a bit despite its flaws, and I don't like 28 Days Later's second half, which ruined the movie since I didn't much care for the first half either. (I still haven't seen all of Shallow Grave.) By this reckoning, I was overdue to like a Danny Boyle picture, which brings us to Millions. Boy, do I ever like this one.
Millions is a clever, imaginative story of two young brothers who have moved to a new house in Liverpool with their widower father. One day, a Nike bag full of money literally falls from the sky into their laps. The money was stolen in a daring train robbery and is being sought by the thief. The boys must decide what to do with the money. Adventures and hijinks ensue, but this isn't in any way an asinine Disney movie that panders to the lowest common denominator. The younger brother, Damian, played by Alex Etel in a wonderous, genuine performance that doesn't betray the slightest ounce of calculation or manipulative "acting", knows everything about saints and imagines seeing and speaking to them. He just wants to be good and wants to help the poor with the money, which he believed was sent by God. His older brother is more interested in investing the money and buying property. But before all that, the kids do what anyone who finds piles and piles of money would do: build a money Jenga tower, show the money to their friends to impress them, and then have themselves a money fight. The money is going to be worthless in just a few days as the UK is about to transition to Euros, so there is the scramble to get the money banked or spent before it all becomes a worthless pile of paper. What I just described doesn't even scratch the surface or do justice to the story and characters in this treasure.
Millions ties together a number of themes, including grieving for the loss of a parent, the complications when the surviving parent begins dating again, being in a new town, getting used to a new school, having a powerful imagination, and most importantly, through Damian, it reaffirms the importance of trying to be a good person. This is a bright, colorful, cheerful, hilarious, dynamic, brilliant motion picture with a terrific soundtrack and score. It's one of the best movies of the year. Danny Boyle continues to cement his reputation as one of the finest filmmakers of this generation.
My Top Ten Movies of 2005 has left me terribly dissatisfied, especially after I saw Crash, which would probably have knocked Memoirs of a Geisha off the list if I'd seen it in a theatre. Millions would also have been in my Top Ten, kicking Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire right out of there. I remember seeing the Millions trailer last year and thinking that I wanted to see it, but I never made the effort. I should have. Better late than never, I suppose.
- John Orquiola
|
