According to Empire magazine this is "one of the best films of the year." But then their new editor is a woman. Before going any further I would like to make it clear that I did not choose to go and see this movie, but cut I deal where where if I went, we could go and see martial-arts Romeo and Juliet-update Romeo Must Die later this month. I must admit that I enjoyed Billy Elliot more than I thought I would, but then my expectations of a film about a young boy's iniiation into ballet dancing were understandably low. All you really need to know about the plot is that Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is a nine-year-old boy takes up ballet against the gritty backdrop of a working-class community in the North East. Like. After that it's all really predictable, his father (Gary Lewis) is dead against young Billy taking up such a feminine pastime, so he sneaks out and has lessons, with teacher Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters) anyway, and the film ambles towards it's inevitable happy ending with a few predicatble laughs along the way.
The film is set during the miners strike in the 1980s, which leads to some the movies better moments, both comically and emotionally. Jamie Draven, who plays Billy's brother Tony, portays the harsh reality of having a little brother very well, having to shut up Dancing Boy's bleating with a couple of sharp words all the time. Unfortunately he softens a bit too much by the end.
Looks like this is going to be this year's Annual Popular British Film. Too much dancing. 5/10 |
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