Simply Perfect

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Stunning powerful film. watch it buy it done rip it

This is one of the only feature films I've seen that is about kids but not geared for kids (the only other that comes to mind is Stand By Me). This sort of combination is found a lot in independent shorts, and it just goes to show how kids are forced into an unkind world well before most of their parents would wish them to. It's unfortunate, because this portrays a child's journey of following his dreams pretty realistically in my opinion, whereas a movie with a lower MPAA rating would give a more romantic take on it and be "kid friendly" but also potentially misleading.What the movie does a very nice job of that I am only realizing now is how it shows the way that ballet affects Billy's life. Ballet changes *what* Billy is, not *who* he is-- his life views and his circumstances, yes, but not who he is as at his core. Ballet, his previously undiscovered passion, gives him something to confirm his identity with, but does not bring about any great changes within him on a emotional or moral level. Instead, it brings about change in those around him and gives them a new perspective and hope, namely his dad. The relationship between Billy and his dad was a little shakier. There's a common belief among screenwriters that third act problems originate in the first act, and I think that holds true here. Billy and his dad's relationship seems like it begins right when the movie does, which may be true given the recent death of Billy's mother. The only things that were used to establish their dynamic were social norms, which is not intrinsically bad, but immediate family members don't relate to each other based solely on social norms no matter how non-existent their relationship is. I don't want to totally bash the father-son portrayal here, because it actually avoids most of the common and annoying tropes that come with such movies. But there was definitely a foundation missing.It was surprisingly entertaining to see Billy discovering his love of dancing. Jamie Bell owns his performance in this respect, conveying an unashamed love of dance without coming off as a "poof". As a young man who has had many passion hobbies (one of which is analyzing movies), I could see a lot of parallels between my own experiences and those of Billy becoming a dancer. It begins with some uncertainty as to whether he likes it and whether he's any good at it, then a fear of whether he wants to identify with his new passion, then embracing ballet internally while hiding it from those close to him. Granted, my own hobbies have not been met with such resistance as Billy's but there's always a bit of a fear that they will.I would recommend anyone over 13 seeing this. Yes, there's a lot of language, but trust me, it's nothing a 13 year old hasn't heard. The same goes for the homosexual motifs. There are things about it that I think could have been better, but it was pretty good overall with some great emotional themes and an innocent undertone amidst hopeless circumstances. Overall Rating: 8/10.

Billy Elliot is about a fairly ordinary boy, his authoritarian homophobic father, a loutish brother, and a down at the heels dance instructor. I expected Billy to be effeminate, maybe even camp. However, he is a played by an ordinary sassy 11-year old who likes to move, to dance, and to do ballet.It is heartbreaking watching the poor kid trying deal with his adamant father.The father comes around almost instantly on seeing Billy dance. This left me reeling.The movie leaves out all of Billy's formal education and early professional career.By the end Dad is proud of his son, even if he dances, dances ballet, is gay and belongs to a travesty ballet company. This just seems a little too "happy ever after" at the cost of realism.

Every human has goals they hope to achieve in their lifetime and in Stephen Daldry's "Billy Elliot" we come across a character named Billy Elliot who's goal as an eleven year-old boy is to dance in a ballet class and at a high ranking school. Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) has a difficult life by dealing with his harsh father (Gary Lewis), his mean brother (Jamie Draven) the death of his mother who he was very close to and living in a working class town who is not accepting of Billy's dance. One day at school young Billy encounters a ballet class with all girls and joins the class. His teacher Mrs.Wilkinson (Julie Walters) pushes Billy to be great but also forms a sweet relationship with him and serves as a mother figure. Billy shoots for the stars in trying to get acceptance into a royal dance school but more importantly tries to win the love of his family. This is based on the Broadway play that was a huge hit and as a film it is wonderful. At times I felt certain scenes were unnecessary but in the end I was very satisfied with how Billy's relationships turned out and the choices he made. This film shows a more harsh look at the difficulties in achieving your dreams rather than just everything always working out like in some interpretations of this subject matter. The setting of a blue collar English town is very believable and shows how different people are everywhere and how sometimes accepting change in someone can brighten your life. The relationship between Billy and his family is something I found very moving. The turning points with his father and brother are not just randomly occurring but take time to adjust to. I particularly found Julie Walters' character as Mrs.Wilkinson very helpful to the story. She shows the side of a struggling human just like Billy. That helps them bond. Jamie Bell as a young kid does fine work here and most adults I feel can relate to him even as he is a kid. Stephen Daldry directs this film is a decent fashion, but I feel it could have had better shots and a sadder darker mood more often to really emphasize Billy's struggle. It just seems to happy. The ending he handles beautifully. "Billy Elliot" is a film in which it wants you to ask yourself what is holding you back in life and what you can do to change it.