Review of Billy Elliot (2000) by Fazley A — 16 Jan 2011

I cheered and laughed at some inappropriate moments during Billy Elliot, I'll admit that. Maybe these parts of the film tried to make me laugh and cheer, so that later on, I would feel bad about it, beucase that is certainly what happened. The first of these moments came when little Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is in a boxing ring and gets knocked down by one punch.

I probably shouldn't have laughed at this, especially not as hard as I did. But I did laugh, and I cheered for Billy's opponent to go in and beat him like MMA fighters do nowadays. You know, knock your opponent down, and then keep pounding on them until the referee tells you to stop. That is what I hoped for.

By the time I finished Billy Elliot, I felt bad about feeling this way, which leads me to believe that not having the audience root for the lead character right off the bat was the intention of director Stephen Daldry. It means that as the film progresses, and we learn more about Billy, we begin to root for him. He wins us over with his story, and we want to see him succeed.

The story takes place in the mid 1980's, and, for the most part, focuses on our title character. Initially someone training in boxing, a dance class begins to inhabit the gym he trains at, and being the curious 11-year-old that he is, Billy decides to give the ballet a shot. He falls in love with it, enough to want to quit boxing. His new dance teacher (Julie Walters) thinks he has potential, and even offers to teach him free of charge.

Billy's father (Gary Lewis), on the other hand, is not a fan of of the ballet, and instists that his son partake in activities better suited to his gender, like football, boxing or even wrestling. Billy just wants to dance though, and will stop at nothing in order to fulfill this desire.

Literally nothing, not even the possible degeneration of his family or social persecution will stop this kid. He is as determined as any other character in any movie you will see, and this constant perserverance will win you over. You'll want to see him succeed, get his way, and become one of the top dancers in the world, even if those hopes are above his own aspirations.

See, despite loving dance, and wanting to pursue it as a career, Billy doesn't really know how to go about this. He gets a shot late in the film to audition for a ballet school, in hopes of getting admittance. He doesn't seem to have any idea of why this is as important as it his, or what he will do after getting to, or graduating from, this school. Al lhe knows is that he wants to dance.

This lack of knowledge gives him a certain charm of innocence that helps his character out, even if he doesn't act much like a sweet and innocent 11-year-old. He curses, disrespects adults and other classmates, and isn't really all the pleasant a character. Despite this, we can't help but feel for him, as it doesn't seem to be his fault, and instead, the blame should be placed on his upbringing.

Billy hasn't had an easy time in life before the movie begins, and it doesn't exactly get easy afterwards. He had many issues to overcome throughout the film, bringing tension, heartbreak and emotion to the movie. Billy Elliot is an incredibly emotionally involved film. You care about the characters and the situations they find themselves in, and the film also does a good job of balancing the high and low points.

Most surprising to me about Billy Elliot was how humorous it was. Small quips between characters allow the mood to stay light in between the heavier moments. The funny parts of the film almost perfectly break up the darl mood that encompasses the majority of the film, meaning that the film won't leave you feeling sad.

As a matter of fact, if it would be described as anything, Billy Elliot could be called a feel-good film. Even with all of its dark parts, the film will leave you feeling good about yourself. Despite its heartwretching parts, these are balanced with moments of real triumph on the part of almost all of its characters.

And these characters are wonderfully acted. Jamie Bell gives a triumphant performace, and is the driving emotional force of the film. Gary Lewis delivers a more subtle performace, bringing more depth to his character than anyone else in the film. You never quite know what to expect from him and trying to figure out what is going through his character's head was part of the fun of the film for me.

I wasn't sure what to expect with Billy Elliot, but I got out of it more than I had hoped for. It was a charming film, full of emotional highs and lows, brought out by some excellent acting. It's far funnier than I thought it would be, and these comedic moments help drive home the emotional depth the rest of the film has. It's an inspiring story of an 11-year-old child and his love of dance, one that will leave you feeling good about life.