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Millions (2004)

post #1 of 8
10/27/08 at 1:57pm
Thread Starter 
So after a rough day at work yesterday, I decided to watch a film that the last time I had watched left a smile on my face for about a week: MILLIONS

For the most part, it held up. I'm not sure what it is about the Europeans, but they get it when it comes to being a kid. Life's not all about dealing with bullies and your first crush, but also being introduced to the color gray when it comes to life's moral and ethical problems. The scene where his dad punishes Damian for wanting to give the money away is about as tough a scene as they come.

If the movie has any flaw, it's the introduction of a physical villain. It doesn't destroy the movie in the way that a villain destroyed SUNSHINE, but I felt that it was unnecessary. All they really needed to do was just establish that the money was stolen and the ethical implications would suit me just fine as the main source of conflict.

Debate: Does Damian really see his mom at the end? My first instinct was that it was the movie was just being overly sentimental*, but then they show that his brother Anthony saw her as well. Was it just a shared moment between the two brothers both reveling in a fantasy due to the weight of the circumstances?

*I mean who didn't roll their eyes at the line "Don't you know Damian? You were my miracle."
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post #2 of 8
10/27/08 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Anthony View Post
*I mean who didn't roll their eyes at the line "Don't you know Damian? You were my miracle."
My eyes were only rolling at that point in an effort to see around MY TEARS.
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post #3 of 8
10/27/08 at 4:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Anthony View Post
*I mean who didn't roll their eyes at the line "Don't you know Damian? You were my miracle."
Pretty much what Darkmite said. Any movie that builds itself up so well that a clunker line like that gets a free pass is truly made of greatness.
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post #4 of 8
10/27/08 at 4:22pm
Great, great movie. It's really a sweet movie that explores a lot more than most "kid's" movies ever consider.
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post #5 of 8
10/27/08 at 5:57pm
Danny Boyle has proven on multiple occasions now that he is a master at directing children. A great movie that held up well when I watched it at home.
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post #6 of 8
10/27/08 at 9:24pm
Thread Starter 
I'm willing to cut the miracle line some slack, but it took me out of the scene for a moment and made the scene as a whole come across as a wee bit sappy. The dad holding the pillow made a bigger impact on me.

As for the kids, they are both fantastic. It'd be easy to just coast on just how impossibly adorable Alex Etel is, but Boyle uses him and builds the whole world as seen through his eyes. The film shares the feeling of excitement and pleasure that Damian gets when giving the money away or when a saint shows up.
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post #7 of 8
11/30/11 at 11:13am

Probably the most pure depiction of imagination on film. It understands how even the simplest things, like making a fort out of boxes, can be an adventure when you're a kid. There's also an underlying darkness that the movie skirts around (when Anthony asks Damian "Did he do anything to you?" and when they're on the computer), and has a strong balancing act of showing how kids do exist in the same world as us grownups but process it differently.

 

Speaking of that darkness, how did this film get a PG rating? "Adult themes" and a pretty prominent scene of a female nipple should have guaranteed a PG-13, not that I'm worrying.

 

I disagree with the poster above that the physical villain was unnecessary; there's too much payoff in how Damian outsmarts him at the end with the charity seekers and police showing up. 

 

Glad I decided to kick off the Christmas season with this gem. 

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post #8 of 8
11/30/11 at 12:06pm

Yup, time for a rewatch. "It's not suspicious. It's unusual."

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