My friend Al asked me to join him at a preview of Danny Boyle’s Millions, a wonderful movie about saints, trains, a 7-year-old Manchester boy, the huge amount of money that literally lands on him, and all the complications that ensue.
I had heard nothing of the movie, but Al told me that the NY Time’s Manola Dargis was [lavish in her praise](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/11/movies/11mill.html?ex=1268283600&en=d2ae0e0c64627fdd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland), and I agree with her. We found some nits to pick, and Al’s friend Bob (who got the passes we all used – thank you again) had a reservation about the ending, with which I respectfully and forcefully disagree. I recommend it heartily to any and all.
A nice pull quote from the Times review: One of the pleasures of the film is there’s never any doubt that this soulful child feels as deeply as any adult: Damian may be a squirt, but he is also an existential hero.
Aah, but best for last: Danny Boyle was at the screening for a Q&A session afterward. The boy who played the lead, Alex, was found after a search (in England, Boyle said, trying to cast a child is called “kissing the frogs). Boyle said that when Alex walked into the room, seeing him out of the corner of his eye, like tickertape, the words “I’ll bet that’s him” flashed before his eyes. Boyle was reluctant to look at him for fear he was wrong, but he wasn’t. In virtually every scene, he carries the film wonderfully.
Millions opens in Atlanta April 1st.
[Update: Found [this link](http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/dannyboyle.html) to Christianity Today’s interview, by Jeffrey Overstreet. Good reading.]