Billy Elliott is a movie that has a tone which matches the main character quite well. It feels free-wheeling, fun-loving, and not afraid to embrace its passion. However, there are also moments when it has to buckle down, and deal with the harshness of real life. I was fully on board for the journey this film would take me on, and I think it has a lot of familiar movie tropes that are handled quite well. One of my favorite aspects of this movie is the way it handles world-building and general plot setup. They don't spend any time detailing the history of the strike that affects Billy's family. It's just surrounding everything that happens, and so instead of watching kids walk to school, we see them wander through a line of picketing workers, or some police in riot gear. Since this later becomes a key element of the plot, the fact that they establish these things is essential, but it's not handled with clunky exposition (or lazy voiceover.)
Jamie Bell plays the charming young Billy Elliott, and I found him completely relatable. I like the way they show his passion for dancing even if his technique isn't perfect. I kind of wish we could have seen a dance in full, because it often felt like we were just getting snippets of his performances. But even in those short moments, you can sense the love that he has for the art. This film felt like it had a strange way of addressing the topic of homosexuality, though. Naturally it's going to come up, because a conservative community of miners are quick to shun any activity that might seem too feminine for one of their boys. It does seem like this is talked about to some degree, but then the subject is dropped rather abruptly. Plus, they shove in the character of Michael, as if they want to make it clear they don't have anything against alternative lifestyles even if they did imply that being a "poof" was a negative. It's just a little clumsy, but I suppose they tried. Aside from some minor issues like that, I found Billy Elliott to be a charming film, and it makes me want to see the Broadway musical version.
Jamie Bell plays the charming young Billy Elliott, and I found him completely relatable. I like the way they show his passion for dancing even if his technique isn't perfect. I kind of wish we could have seen a dance in full, because it often felt like we were just getting snippets of his performances. But even in those short moments, you can sense the love that he has for the art. This film felt like it had a strange way of addressing the topic of homosexuality, though. Naturally it's going to come up, because a conservative community of miners are quick to shun any activity that might seem too feminine for one of their boys. It does seem like this is talked about to some degree, but then the subject is dropped rather abruptly. Plus, they shove in the character of Michael, as if they want to make it clear they don't have anything against alternative lifestyles even if they did imply that being a "poof" was a negative. It's just a little clumsy, but I suppose they tried. Aside from some minor issues like that, I found Billy Elliott to be a charming film, and it makes me want to see the Broadway musical version.