An old-time story for the year 2000 done right

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2001)

The thing about this movie is that it's a small movie with an indepedent feel to it that has a Hollywood plot. It's a story you may have seen many times before in different ways. But don't let it's Rocky overtones scare you away, Billy Elliot is still very original. It touches you and it makes you laugh at the same time. Jamie Bell gives a great performance as the lower middle class small town kid who wants to be a ballet dancer against his widowed fathers wishes. The music for the film is also interesting, the director usesthe 1970's rock band "T-Rex" throughout the movie and even though it may not have been someone else's choice for a film set in the 1980's, the excellent "Cosmic Dancer" seems oddly appropriate. The films gender bending aspects are also very different from the standard Hollywood treatment hence "The Full Monty" comparison. Yet as British as this film is Billy Elliot is so charming that I think almost anyone could enjoy it, even Americans.