Musings of a Punk Rock Father

Director Danny Boyle's newest fantasy Millions is like Shallow Grave meets The Butcher Boy meets something sweeter, like Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, although I also thought of A Simple Plan as well. The film focuses on two brothers who come across a large sum of money when it falls to them from the sky (Shallow Grave & A Simple Plan). One of the brothers, who sees visions of saints (similar to the Butcher Boy's visions of the Virgin Mary) wishes to give the money to help poor people, while his older brother spends with reckless abandon.

The film plays more as a fantasy, which works well given that we are seeing the world mostly through the eyes of an imaginative little boy. The film wrestles with issues of morality, helping others, loss and fitting in, among others. As the film opens, the boys are moving into a new home with their dad because their mother has died (as Melanie said, "Why do mothers always have to die in movies? It all started with "Bambi"!). The issue of loss is seen equally poignantly through the sons as well as their father, who not only struggles to raise the two on his own, but also struggles with being alone.

Since they have begun attending a new school, the older brother sees the money as a way to popularity, to fitting in, while his younger sibling only wants to help those who are less fortunate. "Are you poor," he continually asks people, proclaiming "Brilliant!" when he finds someone to lavish his fortune upon.

The film swings back and forth between reality and fantasy, sad and humorous, small issues and large. It's quite a different feel for the director of Trainspotting, but no less artful or moving.