Millions (12A)

Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, directed by Danny Boyle
Screening at FACT from 27th May - 16th June

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

Millions is a major departure for Danny Boyle, director of Trainspotting. You can't accuse him of being typecast!

This amusing film, starring nine-year-old Anthony (Leon McGibbon) and seven-year-old Damien (Alex Etol) would be an ideal choice for Christmas Day afternoon television - and that is not being disrepectful to the production.

Mainly set in Liverpool and Widnes, Damien, while playing in his cardboard box by a railway line, discovers a large bag stuffed full of money, valued at over £200,000, which formed part of a train robbery. Damian, obsessed by saints, thinks it is a gift from God.

After telling his brother about the money, they are unsure what to do with the cash.

In regard to spending it they have a problem in that Britain is due, within the next two weeks, to switch over to the Euro - pound notes and coins currently used will become worthless.

There are a number of comical sequences, sometimes a little bit too twee for my taste, but I liked the visitation to Damien of various saints, as well as a pot smoking nun, who conversed with him about his discovery of the money.

Boyle was perhaps trying to pinpoint, although it is not an original message, that money corrupts, and we live in an age where the accumulation of material possessions is people's primary purpose in life. The soundtrack is surprisingly good for a children's film, and includes two tracks by Muse.

If this film had been set in France and featured French children, this visually appealing and unusual film would be acknowledged as a minor classic. Instead it has been given a thumbs down by a lot of critics, which is harsh.