Much as David Lynch did with The Straight Story, Millions finds Danny Boyle abandoning his fondness for violence, instead directing a family film that delves into magical realism. Boyle takes the striking visual techniques from Trainspotting and 28 Days Later and applies them to a children's fantasy populated by haloed saints. It's busy, colorful, cheery — and ultimately scattershot. With swarming images and a relentless music box soundtrack (by John Murphy), Boyle tends to overwhelm what should be a simple story about two brothers distributing $229,000 pounds before a monetary conversion renders the currency worthless. Since the British had not yet switched to euros by the film's release, Millions exists some time in the nebulous future, and its frenetic dream-like quality deepens the effect. Even if the film doesn't work on all levels, it's worth applauding. Child actor Alex Etel turns in an earnest performance that's as accomplished as Freddie Highmore's in Finding Neverland. He gives great voice to the whimsical chatter in Frank Cottrell Boyce's screenplay, which, in a particularly British and particularly endearing form of artifice, is just a little too sophisticated for a child. Trusting to a fault, Etel proceeds through his magical world with total naïveté, which makes him impervious to real-world harms. Namely, the shady character (a menacing Christopher Fulford) creeping around his attic, which serves as a nod to Boyle's first film, Shallow Grave. That's just one of several ways the film fits comfortably into Boyle's oeuvre, including his intermittent use of over-exposed and richly colorized film stock. Like most Boyle films, though, Millions is just flawed enough to give pause.
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Millions
