Millions

A basic synopsis is this: Two young boys and their father move to a new neighborhood after the death of the boys' mother. The movie centers around the time-frame of emotional adjustment from the move and going into the holidays in a new area. When a bag of money literally falls from the sky, young Damian believes it comes from God & tries to do good with it. Unlike Damian, his older brother has more ambitious goals, but the UK is about to switch its currency from Pounds to Euros in just a few days, so they have a very short window of time to use the loot.

I'd been wanting to watch this movie for quite a while but was worried that the preview made it more shiny-happy than it really was going to be, and/or that there would be a very painful moment or two to experience once I got into it. However, I'm happy to report that my fears were remiss - it was so good! I made Henry watch it with me a few weeks ago and he quite liked it as well. It is a really sweet story and the characters are all very engaging and tangible.

The main character, 7-year old Damian, is played by the same boy (Alex Etel) who is in the new movie, The Water Horse - which I also want to see and look forward to reviewing for you all! He is so amazing in this movie that you just want to pick him up and give him a big hug, or perhaps climb into his giant cardboard box fort for the afternoon with him and his visions of Catholic saints. This is perhaps my most favorite aspect of the movie. I've often aspired to know about the various saints (just as a curiosity, being as I'm a lapsed Episcopalian with little use for saints) and as a result I am quite the admirer of this adorable kid with such random knowledge. If only I'd had an imagination half that powerful when I was a child... or now for that matter!

This movie's director is quite out of his usual element, being known for such movies as Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and 28 Days Later. All movies which I have enjoyed more than once and most of which I own, but none of which are at all on the same planet with this movie's environment. This is a magical land (which I kept expecting to come crashing down, but was pleased to find did not) and is not like the England that is usually seen in films. Even though it is around Christmas, this England is bright and colorful rather than foggy and gray, adding to the surrealism of the story. It is a wonderful story and I highly recommend it to warm you up on a gray day. Grab a cuppa tea and a biscuit (that's a cookie for youz in the South) and snuggle up to watch this one any time of year!

Trailers are available at this site (I couldn't locate one to load here, sorry!): http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2005/IJKLM/Millions/trailer.php