Seven year old Damien (Alex Etel) is playing one day when he finds a bag of millions of pounds. Only he and his older brother Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) know about this. Anthony wants to spend the money on frivolous things, while Damien (who has visions of various saints throughout the movie) wants to give the money to the poor. Things get more complicated when the boys learn that the money was stolen.
One thing that helps make this movie as involving as it is the relationship between the brothers. They have little to nothing in common and do not understand each other in the slightest. However they do care about each other and constantly look out for the other. There is a both a warmth and an awkwardness between them that feels completely real and relatable. There is an awkward but funny scene where the two are looking at women’s breasts on the computer. The director wondered whether to explain this scene to the kids but decided not to because the comedy came from the fact that they didn’t fully know what they were talking about. In the DVD commentary it is stated that the kids found it funny how much the behind the scenes crew were looking at the computer. This scene also shows the relationship between the two brothers very well. Damien is completely confused by this, but Anthony is enjoying it. Anthony tries to be helpful by explaining it to Damien and sharing his joy with his younger brother, but Damien still remains confused.
The visual look of this movie is perfect. The film has a beautiful look that perfectly blends the fantasy and reality. Though the movie takes place at Christmastime, it was shot during the summer to give the film a sunnier look. This sunny look worked perfectly as it added a bit more of a warm and nostalgic feeling of childhood. This nostalgic feeling makes the fantasy fit better and become more acceptable. To heighten the fantasy of the film, this movie features some great uses of stop motion.
This movie has a fantastic soundtrack. It contains some rock and pop songs in the background. There are songs by such artists as Muse, El Bosco, Feeder, Vangelis, S.-Express and The Clash (this is director Danny Boyle’s favorite band and in the DVD commentary he states that he was happy to finally get a Clash song in one of his movies). They feel completely natural and just add to the fun of the movie, because they fit perfectly with what we see on screen. As this film takes place at Christmastime there are also some traditional Christmas carols heard in this film as well. These songs also bring you further into the movie by creating a great sense of atmosphere.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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