Three Day Millionaire is a film made in and about Grimsby. It’s a fast-paced, colourful, foul-mouthed and funny crime caper.
The characters are great sea-salt-of-the-earth types who swap friendly insults as often as crackling one-liners. If you want to watch an entertaining romp about a bunch of bungling but good natured scalliwags taking on The Man, it’ll certainly tick all those boxes. Everyone loves a heist movie and, as the marketing says, this isn’t so much Ocean’s 11, it’s more Grimsby’s 4.
Three Day Millionaire is available to watch now on Amazon Prime or Sky Store or AppleTV, among other digital platforms. You won’t have to cast your net far to catch it!
Three Day Millionaire channels the energies of Trainspotting (1996) and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Like them, it is packed full of largely-unknown actors who have great on-screen chemistry and can rattle off the punchy, well-written dialogue. If this movie does for Grimsby what Danny Boyle did for Edinburgh and what Guy Ritchie did for The East End, there will be no complaints from this quarter!
But there is more going on with here than just an uproarious comedy.
Three Day Millionaire – The Shallows
The film betrays a deep knowledge of the town’s history and character that feels just right to those of us who know the town. That’s important because people have a lot of preconceived notions about Grimsby, which the film quickly dispells.
Yes, Grimsby has a funny name. Well, Paul Stephenson’s script immediately addresses that by mentioning “our Viking friend, Grim”. That’s right, Grimsby was built by a hairy-arsed, tattooed, axe-wielding Viking called Grim!
This could have been another example of ‘poverty porn’ which points and laughs at how dumb, depraved and desperate Grimsby people are. That was certainly the direction Sacha Baron Cohen decided to go in with his execrable 2016 abomination, Grimsby. But, no, Three Day Millionaire is resolutely and deeply affectionate for this area and its people. Whilst acknowledging there are problems, it doesn’t let them define us.
Cast(ing the Net)
So, we meet our cast – the cocky and charismatic Curly Dean (played by first-time movie-star James Burrows), the innocent, well-meaning Budgie (Sam Glen) and their over-stimulated but eloquent best friend, Codge (Michael Kinsey). They’re literally the last of a dying breed – the last fishermen, working the last trawler in town.
“We’re not like other folk. We’re freaks. We risk life and limb, make big bank, then set fire to it. We live like death’s door’s round the corner, cos it is.”
That’s the mindset of a three day millionaire, which is a phrase that people in Grimsby are familiar with. It harks back to a time when trawlermen got paid well after a successful fishing trip, then had three days to spend it before going back out to sea. They genuinely didn’t know if their next expedition would be their last, resulting in the all-too-familiar headline ‘Trawler Sinks, All Hands Lost’. So, they lived life to the full while they could.
If you’re at all interested in the reality of being a trawlerman back in the day – you could do worse than watch the documentary Deckie Learner. Made by Michael Grigsby in 1965, this is a no-holds-barred depiction of a time when Grimsby men worked hard and played hard, ‘cos times were hard.
Grimsby’s Past – Just Below the Surface
Grimsby’s legendary status as the world’s largest fishing port is, as everyone knows, very much a thing of the past. As Curly Dean tells us: “There were thousands upon thousands of trawlermen and fish caught by the billion.” Then the Cod Wars happened in the 1970s, between Britain and Iceland. That is, itself, a subject that is just begging to be made into a film. It resulted in our trawlermen being sold down the river. Grimsby’s industry vanished overnight.
That has led to complicated responses. There are those in town who reminisce about the ‘good old days’ and wish to see the dock full of trawlers once more. There are those who see the town as having a different future, one that isn’t necessarily dependent on the sea. Then there are those who can’t see beyond the post-industrial wasteland that parts of the town have fallen into.
As script-writer Paul Stephenson notes, Three Day Millionaire addresses all of these visions of Grimsby: “It is a heightened movie which uses poetic language as a foil against the gritty realism of the urban North. It’s a darkly amusing story too which resonates with audiences both young and old who may at once love and hate the sky they live under.”
Something Fishy is Going On
Curly believes Grimsby is on the up, that there is a fishing renaissance on the horizon. This is very eloquently evoked in the phrase: “To the ocean we are born and to the ocean we must return.” Codge, on the other hand, thinks Grimsby’s trademark industry is dead and the only sensible way forward is to escape. This is a good way of presenting both opinions of the town’s prospects.
Curly is soon proven wrong when he learns that his dream of a glorious fishing future is about to be ploughed under by bulldozers of evil southern developers. His boss, Mr. Barr, has sold up for a tidy sum – which he keeps in his office safe.
They Landed Some Big (Acting) Fish
Barr is played by Colm Meaney who has transported himself all the way to Grimsby from the Starship Enterprise – by way of films like Con Air (1997) and The Damned United (2009) and TV shows like Hell on Wheels (2011) and Gangs of London (2020). He wouldn’t have been attracted to this film if it had just required him to be a one-dimensional bad-guy, but his character has more depth than that!
Another character who isn’t entirely what he seems is Mr. Graham – played by Jonas Armstrong who, you may recall, fought The Sheriff of Nottingham as the star of the BBC’s Robin Hood (2006), and then fought aliens alongside Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow (2014). He is the man with the plan, the one who knows where the money is and, more importantly, knows how to get it.
These are all ably assisted by a rogue’s gallery of well-written and well-acted characters such as Codge’s ferocious (but long-suffering) girlfriend, Demi, and her best friend, Gilly, who just happens to be Barr’s PA. Then, best of all, we have Matthew Blake as Trev the local drag queen hypnotist and bar owner. Yes, you read that right. They really are characters!
Grimsby’s 4 – Hidden Depths
And so a plot is hatched by a gang who have nothing to lose. They make a great oddball team – the hopeful and heroic one, the dim one with a few surprises up his sleeve and the nervy, sarcastic one.
Their plan is to, if you will, take back control.
The trope of plucky Northern working-class lads overcoming adversity is a common one in British films (think everything from The Full Monty and Brassed Off to Billy Elliot and Phantom of the Open), but here we have the added ingredient of a tense and exciting heist thrown in for good measure!
Director Jack Spring and his crew took the trouble to actually make Three Day Millionaire in Grimsby, when making it nearer a recognised production hub such as Leeds or Manchester would, no doubt, have been easier.
They deserve credit for that because, if nothing else, they could offer work to loads of local actors and behind-the-scenes folk, as well as to students from Grimsby Institute.
Starring Grimsby as Itself
The obvious landmarks are present and correct in the background – Cleethorpes Pier, Dock Tower – just as you’d expect. But, additionally, there are nice moments – easter eggs, you might say – where local viewers can point and cry “That’s Bethlehem Street”, “That’s Corporation Street Bridge” or “That’s Casablanca”! Scenes that didn’t have to be shot here still are – and that’s important! Because of that kind of attention to detail, the film has salt water running through its veins.
Grimsby contributed a lot, not only to the feel of the finished film, but during the production. As the film’s Producer, Giles Alderson, says:
“I was over the moon with Grimsby. Not knowing what to expect I didn’t have high hopes. How wrong was I? The response was joyous. Wonderful people were happy to open their homes to us, even last minute, with nothing asked for in return. Drinks bought, laughs had. Always and forever Grimsby will be in my heart because of the kindness and compassion shown and the help they gave us in making the film.”
Well, that’s what you get when you actually involve a town in the story you’re telling about them. Spend some money, make some friends – it goes a long way. As for Sacha Baron Cohen – who bravely took the piss out of Grimsby from the safety of a film studio down south – let’s see what kind of welcome he gets if he ever sets foot in the town again.
As for the cast and crew of Three Day Millionaire – they’re welcome back anytime!
Where You Can Catch Three Day Millionaire
But, y’know, don’t just take my word for it. To catch Three Day Millionaire yourself, visit their website and check out the links to a range of streaming platforms. Go on, you know you want to.
Three Day Millionaire
1 h 32 min
2022
Dir: Jack Spring
Script: Paul Stephenson
Suitable for 15 yrs and older
