Review of Beautiful Thing (1996) by Terry E — 21 Jun 2012

This film came highly recommended. Indeed, I almost felt that I had to hand back my gay membership card since I hadn't seen it before. So, I settled down to watch. TBH found it a little slow at first and had difficulty identifying with any of the characters (not helped by the familiarity of Eastenders and The Bill faces amongst the cast). However, once it did get into the â~grooveâ(TM) I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Some very well written characters with the two male leads managing to combine innocence, naivety and a street knowledge (particularly Ste) that looked, sounded and felt perfectly in tune with the time and location of their lives.

It could be said that Jamie and Ste actually had a bit of an easy ride â" pardon the pun â" in the blooming relationship, particularly if you compare the film to the storyline of John Paul and Craigâ(TM)s coming out on Hollyoaks, but this didnâ(TM)t matter as I really found myself rooting for them to have a good life together.

Some brilliant one liners, particularly between Sandra and Leah (Leah: Don't suppose you've got any jobs in your new pub? Sandra: No. But if I ever do turn it into a brothel I'll get back to you, ok?) emphasised the quality of the script and the relationships between the various characters, both major and minor.

The final scene of the two boys dancing together while Sandra watched the crowd protectively was brilliant. No words, just awesome Mamma Cass music (excellent soundtrack all the way through BTW) had me reaching for the hanky to wipe away away a tear and left me, for once, really wanting to know what happened to all the characters after the film ended.

To end, once thing that apparently splits the gay community has to be addressed â" Team Ste all the way!