Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Such a frustrating disappointment

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Billy Liar is a 1963 British film that captures the monumental changes of the era: the sexual revolution and the destruction of England's old town centres in modernisation schemes. In Bradford, Yorkshire young Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay) is working a soul-crushing job in a funeral home and suffering daily the derision of his elderly parents. His only escape from this drudgery is his active imagination, where he imagines himself leader of his own country and misleads other townspeople about his family's situation with little fibs. His propensity to make things up and shrug off his responsibilities, however, leads him to end up dating two women at the same time (Helen Fraser and Gwendolyn Watts), though ultimately he dreams of escaping with the liberated Liz (Julie Christie).As a snapshot of Britain at a particular time, this is a valuable film. As background to Fisher's own personal struggles, the camera often shows wrecking balls smashing down the walls of old homes, and at one point a town councillor marks an entire swath of the city for demolition. A scene at a dance club captures the growing influence of rock 'n' roll on Britain. Old class tensions persisted, however, though American audiences might not entirely get this as it is often suggested only by characters' particular accents.The overall message of the film is a letdown though, essentially saying that young people should give up their silly dreams and give in to their parents' demands. This moral lesson was entirely overturned by the youth revolution that erupted through the Sixties. As the UK saw full employment through that decade, young people could take the risk of following their dreams even if it meant a rupture with their families and hometowns. Nonetheless, the comedic approach in the film makes it entertaining almost throughout, and I'd recommend that anyone see it at least once.

Featuring an extraordinary acting performance by Tom Courtenay, "Billy Liar" starts off as a farce. Courtney's Billy lives in a fantasy world, or a fantasy country, where he is the dictator, passing back and forth between a Churchill-like autocrat who inspires his people with magnificent Churchill-type speeches to a Hitler-esque fascist. The fantasies are played out in real flesh and blood for us, and they are quite striking, and occasionally hilariously absurd; an imaginary series of regiments parades before Billy, including one in which all the members have lost their right arms. Billy imagines himself leading each regiment, including a corps from India, make-up included.Billy also repeatedly turns on his perceived real-life enemies with a fantasy machine gun – quite shocking, and probably not do-able today. He also has a job in a funeral home, of all places, but never seems to do any work. The humor is a little dark, like an Evelyn Waugh novel. But like I said, the first half hour is primarily farce.The genius of the movie, however, is that Billy grows more complex as the film moves along. Billy has somehow gotten himself engaged to two different girls, neither of whom he intends to marry, and bizarrely keeps running into both of them. As he increasingly gets more caught in his own various webs of deceit, Courtenay's Billy begins to crack, and as we see how emotionally vulnerable he really is, he becomes much more sympathetic. Courtenay is masterful, as he seeks to keep hold of his fantasies and juggle his many lies, without getting trapped and caught – and it doesn't always work. Courtenay's genius is that he so effortlessly moves back and forth between weakness and manipulation, and we actually become more fond of him as the film progresses.Some Northern British city itself is the co-star here, shot in glorious post-war black and white. One particularly interesting scene takes place in a dance club. All the locals have gathered to dance to such dreary crap as a song called "Twisteralla" (I am not sure it was not a parody of typical music of 1963), and forming a conga-line at one point. To think, this took place perhaps just months before the Beatles exploded on the scene; to me, it is a snapshot of how distressing the music and club world was before the British Invasion (yes, I know the British did not invade their own country).All the supporting cast are spectacular, from the old grandmother who doesn't understand why there are so many "Blackies" in town, to the two girlfriends, one an obnoxious bully, the other an annoying prude, to Billy's ever irritated father, who at one point calls Billy a "Mary-Anne" - oh dear!A particularly funny moment occurs when Courtenay has asked one of his girlfriends to go for a walk. The camera suddenly is pointing up into the trees, and we hear the girlfriend Barbara exclaim off-camera something like "oh it is so beautiful here!"; then, as the camera pans down, we see they are walking in a gorgeous but ancient cemetery. Really clever.A great film, and keep your eyes closely on Courtenay. Oh, and to really appreciate Courtenay, watch the film he made after this one, "King and Country". Tom's character, a dim-witted soldier on trial for his life, could not be more different than Billy, and shows what an extraordinary actor he is.

Although Tom Courtenay is the star of "Billy Liar" and gives an outstanding performance as this British version of a "Walter Mitty-like" character, it's a very young Julie Christie who steals the show. Her part isn't large and her on-screen time is limited, but Christie's free-spirited carefree role changes the dynamics of the film and challenges Courtenay's Billy Fisher to do something with his life besides living in a complex fantasy world of his own making. Fisher is mainly concerned with his standing in Ambrosia, a make-believe European country where he resides as military hero, dictator and all-around super human being. He's forever leading the parade in this imaginative world as his real life passes him by. In reality, Fisher lives in a drab northern English city and employed as an undertaker's assistant. He's a notorious and habitual liar and under-achieving in every facet of his existence---except one. He has more than one fiancée and is constantly juggling his lies to keep them at arm's distance. In the hands of a less capable director, Fisher's "problems" wouldn't elicit anything more than a yawn and a cheap laugh. But the great John Schlesinger is able to present Billy's story with a bundle of humor tinged with a whiff of sympathy. He's really a lost soul but doesn't know it yet. The ambivalent ending can be taken two different ways depending on the viewer's opinion. The final scene where Christie leaves alone on the train to London stays with you long after the final reel is over."Billy Liar" was Tom Courtenay's second major success after "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" was released the previous year. He followed this role with a lead part in David Lean's epic "Doctor Zhivago." He's kept himself busy with stage and screen work to this day and he's now "Sir" Thomas Courtenay. For Julie Christie, all the doors opened up for her after "Billy" and she continued on to international success. Her next film, also with Schlesinger directing, was "Darling" for which she took home the Academy Award for Best Actress. But seeing her in this first major role is certainly a treat. It's easy to see why she became one of screen's all-time leading ladies. Actress debuts don't come any better than Julie Christie's in "Billy Liar." John Schlesinger's career took off after "Billy Liar" and "Darling." He's probably best remembered now for directing Dustin Hoffmann and Lawrence Olivier in the thriller "Marathon Man."

Billy Liar directed by John Schlesinger is a great example of a person who desperately wants to escape his meaningless existence but doesn't have the nerve to take action. Billy Fisher is a young man who lives with his parents and works for an undertaker. He constantly lives very vivid fantasies in his head mostly about a country he imagined named Ambrosia. He has ambitions of leaving his boring life behind and becoming a famous screenwriter but never really writes anything or makes an effort to reach that goal. His job as a clerk for an undertaker shows just how dreary and miserable his life really is. Billy is so unhappy in his Yorkshire life that he conjures up all of these very elaborate lies in order to make himself look or feel better. He juggles between two girlfriends who think they are engaged to him. Barbara and Rita are told every excuse in the book by Billy so that he can get the one ring he has to pass between the two of them. He cannot make a decision of which to be with and instead of addressing the situation, Billy uses his imagination to get him out of one jam after another. Whenever things get rough with his girlfriends, parents, or employer he imagines mowing them down with a machine gun. Instead of facing the issues, Billy just slips into his imaginary world where is in control. Billy also has a third woman in his life named Liz. Her first scene in the film tells her whole personality. She is shown slowly strolling through the streets swinging her bag looking as if she hasn't a care in the world. Unlike Billy she is happy in the real world and makes the best of it. She comes and goes as she pleases and when she wants to make a change in her life she gets up and takes action without hesitation. She is also the only person who Billy is really honest to. She accepts him for who he is and actually offers him a real escape from his life by moving to London and starting fresh. He can be with the one girl who truly understands him. Billy could pursue his screen writing ambitions and leave behind the nagging of his parents and girlfriends. Ultimately Billy leaves Liz on the train to London. He is too scared to leave his life behind even though it's all he seems to want. The last scene culminates it all. Billy imagines marching home with the Ambrosia army at his back. He was cowardly and slips back into his comfortable life leaving behind possibly the best thing in his life, Liz. Instead of dealing with those facts and his mistakes he fantasizes about marching home triumphantly. This sums up Billy Fisher perfectly. No matter how bad things are and how much he screws things up he can always drift into his fantasy world where everything is OK. This film is funny and incredibly relatable for me unfortunately. It captures the struggles of young adulthood and the fear of going for what you want.