Two boys, still grieving the death of their mother, find themselves the unwitting benefactors of a bag of bank robbery loot in the week before the United Kingdom switches its official currency to the Euro. What's a kid to do?
Alex Etel
Damian
Lewis McGibbon
Anthony
James Nesbitt
Ronnie
Daisy Donovan
Dorothy
Christopher Fulford
The Man
Enzo Cilenti
St Francis
Alun Armstrong
Saint Peter
Jane Hogarth
Maureen
Pearce Quigley
Community Policeman
Nasser Memarzia
Saint Joseph
Kathryn Pogson
St Clare of Assisi
Harry Kirkham
Saint Nicholas
Cornelius Macarthy
Gonzaga
Kolade Agboke
Ambrosio
James Quinn
Estate Agent
Leslie Phillips
Himself
Lisa Millett
Cashier
Mark Chatterton
Headmaster
Christian Rubeck
Jerome
Guy Flanagan
All Saint 3
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Nativity Teacher
Philippa Howarth
Tricia
Christy Cullen
Surveyor
Gunnar Winbergh
Eli
Toby Walton
Damian's Teacher
Billy Hyland
Keegan
John Nugent
Graham
Steve Garti
Terry
Alice Grice
Maria
Dale Stringer
Fairclough
Warren Donnelly
Sweet Shop Owner
Tara Moran
Applicant
Emily Aston
Big Issue Seller
Director
Danny Boyle
Writer
Frank Cottrell Boyce
August 7, 2023
7
Alex Etel is really quite good in this daft tale of, almost literally, manna from heaven. It's the day before the UK joins the Euro (so, yes - it's a fantasy/horror story depending on your perspective) and from the sky falls a bag of used twenties. Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth. Now he ("Damian") and his pal "Anthony" (Lewis McGibbon) are honest sort of lads - though not take it to the police station sort of honest - and they decide that they can become the benefactors for some people and institutions who need a bit of help. Clearly, though - they can't distribute it all in time, so they gradually start to include their friends and family in the disposal of their largess and that's when the story starts to take on a more critical aspect. We see humanity in many of it's guises emanating when lucre is involved - and some of that behaviour isn't so charming. The writing is often quite pithily amusing - the young lad has an habit of talking to saints, to whom he attributes his windfall, and writer Frank Cottrell Boyce quite cleverly uses this innocence and generosity of spirit to create a template for a look at just how we react when money is the raison d'être - too little, too much, sharing, hoarding, stealing... This is a well delivered testament to the acting talents of the two youngsters and to a bit of amusing, though-provoking, writing that I would not say is especially memorable - but it is enjoyable.