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Millions

EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures

Millions reviews
74
8.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 31 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy  |  Crime  |  Drama

Written by: Frank Cottrell Boyce

Directed by: Danny Boyle

Release Date:
Theatrical: March 11, 2005
DVD: November 1, 2005

Running Time: 98 minutes, Color

Origin: UK / USA

Summary

RATING: PG for thematic elements, language, some peril and mild sensuality

Starring Alexander Nathan Etel, Lewis Owen McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan, and Christopher Fulford

A heartwarming story of two little boys, faith, miracles...and lots of money. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A family film of limitless imagination and surprising joy.

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100

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Utterly enchanting.

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91

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

This sincere, delicate, and intrinsically religious comedy may also become that most unexpected of blessings - Danny Boyle's first family classic.

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90

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The near-miracle worked by Mr. Boyle, whose exuberant style brings several saints to scruffy life, is a movie that's joyously funny and hugely inventive -- occasionally to the point of preciousness -- yet true to the spirit of the saintly little kid at its center.

90

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

It's vibrant and verdant and heartbreakingly inviting, begging you to escape into a lovely tale in which children, through a simple act of faith, find their own heaven on earth.

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88

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Leaves you feeling rich - and richly satisfied.

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88

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

One of the more delightful and satisfying family movies.

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83

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

The film is thriller, comedy and rite-of-passage story, but Boyle never loses sight of what's at its core.

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80

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The most gleeful movie about a single-minded kid since "A Christmas Story."

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80

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Witty, sweet and charming but never sappy, the movie joins the heady company of such extraordinary child-centered movies as "The 400 Blows," "My Life as a Dog" and "Au Revoir Les Enfants."

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80

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

Millions is an intelligent children’s film that may prove to be a guilty pleasure for adults.

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80

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

A heartfelt, emotionally delicate children's movie about life and death and all the parts in between.

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80

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Despite being a pure fantasy that relishes not making literal sense, Millions retains a conviction about what it's doing that makes us believe and enjoy.

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80

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Millions is that rarest of creatures: a family film - one of surprising warmth – that won't have adults reaching for an airsick bag.

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80

Empire Adam Smith

Millions, like all kid-powered movies, stands or falls in the first place on the performances of its child actors, and Alex Etel and Lewis McGibbon both delight.

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80

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The movie, though quite funny in parts, turns organically dark, and it refuses to paint a picture of a cotton-candy world. It prefers the real one.

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78

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's childhood done just right: part cotton candy angels, part gurning adult frighteners, and all wide-eyed kidhood bravado.

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75

Boston Globe Ty Burr

You really don't need to borrow someone else's kids to ponder and enjoy what Millions has to offer.

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75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

You never know what to expect from Boyle, and that goes triple in this offbeat comedy drama. It's a movie about family that family viewers will find good, quirky fun.

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75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's an uplifting motion picture that will bring smiles to faces, and Boyle's trademark irreverence keeps the feel-good experience from becoming too saccharine.

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75

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

This is a family movie in the best sense; it plays to children without talking down and to their parents without pandering. Mostly, it's just good fun.

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70

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This cheeky fable rests on the slender shoulders of Etel and McGibbon, and the lovely, natural performances Boyle elicits from them are the film's real miracle.

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70

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

A sweet little picture with a sense of humor as well as a mission. If money can't buy you love, at least it can buy you 90 minutes of warmth.

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70

Variety Derek Elley

Maintains a bankable charm and innocence even when overdrawn on the special effects side.

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70

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

A little broad comedy keeps things perky, but the kids' excellent, restrained acting and the low-key script by "The Claim" screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce hold the whole sprawling project together, from weepy revelations to silly fantasy-saint sequences.

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63

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Starts as sweetly impossible and ends as impossibly sweet.

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63

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The film is small-scale, cleverly crafted and feels like a more expensive version of the sort of "dramedy" they produce by the truckload at the BBC.

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63

USA Today Mike Clark

Mostly avoids being cloying but flirts with being precious. Yet Boyle is enough of a stylist to make it all passable. It's one of those films for which fans and detractors can see the others' viewpoint.

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63

New York Post Kyle Smith

Give Boyce and Boyle credit for daring to be strange, but this enchilada is so overstuffed, it's falling apart.

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60

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

By avoiding sentimentality, Millions emerges as a simple tale told with sympathy for a child's point of view.

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50

Village Voice Ed Park

Danny Boyle's Millions is not what we'd expect from the "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later" director. It's essentially a gentle, kid's-eye parable.

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50

The New Yorker David Denby

We're supposed to be overwhelmed by magic, but what we see is fancy film technique and a lot of strained whimsy.

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50

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

And the movie, likable for short stretches, ends up seeming worn and frayed, like Christmas decorations left hanging until spring.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Harper M gave it an8:
Touching fantasy with a flashy, surrealistic visual style. The film has humor, pathos, and moments of menace.

Aldrin C. gave it a10:
"Millions" is a priceless religious experience. Wonderful acting and the visuals are deeply astounding. The scenery looks like something straight from a Windows XP desktop wallpaper. And the music--prodigious! Great job, Mr. Boyle.

Frank O. gave it an8:
a great story about money and its consequences on two boys and their family, like the subtext of the religious theme.

William L. gave it a9:
Excellent for all ages and with a good point

a gave it a1:
You people have got to be kidding me!!!! this movie was more boring than watching the news when your 5!!! the plot line may be excellently developed but otherwise it just plain SUCKS!!!

Chad S. gave it a9:
The big emotional scene in "Millions" pays off because the mother's death, when addressed explicitly by the two boys, is done in a comic manner. Alex Etel plays muted trauma brilliantly. He effortlessly gains our sympathy. London, depicted here, isn't predictably glum; the filmmaker doesn't want to overstate the tragedy. The flashy visuals work as a psychical projection of how these two boys try to remain childlike, so it's not all post-modern meaninglessness, or filmmaking overindulgence. Ultimately, "Millions" is fascinating to watch because Damian is a well-adjusted "Butcher Boy". If you see saints, there has to be a touch of madness there. If you see your dead mother, there has to be a touch of "Ponette" as well.

Justin M. gave it a10:
I was pleasently surprised by this film. It's a schmaltzy feel good film that preaches about giving. And yet, somehow I still came away thinking, I should give more.

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