{image1}From "Shallow Grave" to "Trainspotting" ... not much of a leap. To "28 Days Later"? A bit of a leap. From that film to its follow-up, "Millions," which is finally arriving here? A pretty huge leap.
Scots director Danny Boyle can certainly not be accused of taking a lazy approach to filmmaker. Indeed, he's done a pretty good job of keeping us guessing about what he'll come up with next.
Certainly the zombies and destruction in "28 Days Later" did not prepare us for his almost evangelical, uplifting morality story, "Millions," with its made-for-TV feel. The script was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, who wrote "24 Hour Party People."
Seven-year-old Damian (Alexander Nathan Etel in his debut) and 9-year-old Anthony (Lewis Owen McGibbon) are brothers who, after the death of their mother, are moving into a new suburban home in Northeast England with their dad, Ronnie (James Nesbitt).
Damian -- who studies the stories of the saints and appears to remember them all -- builds a refuge near the railroad tracks from the move's empty boxes. One day, a bag of cash lands almost literally in his lap and he thinks it's a gift from God. After all, when he and Anthony tell people that their mum has died, they often get free stuff, so why not now?
The kind-hearted Damian wants to give all the money away to the poor, much to the dismay of Anthony, who sees a whole lot of ways he and Damian can enjoy the money themselves.
Throughout, Damian gets magical visions from various saints, urging him to do the right thing. But when his dad finds out about the money, doing the right thing becomes even more complicated.
The money, we guess early on, is part of the massive loot from a much-publicized robbery (the money, to be replaced with the Euro, is being sent to its destruction) and can it be long before the perpetrators come 'round looking for it? Especially since those Pounds Sterling need to be converted to Euros before the looming deadline or they will become useless to everyone.
While everyone in the film falls victim to mortal temptation, Damian stays on the straight and narrow.
If a little hokey at times, Boyle is to be lauded for making a film about faith that isn't excessively sappy or darkly cynical.
And, hey, we get to hear The Clash's "Hitsville UK" in a film.
"Millions" opened Friday, April 1 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
