There is a little boy (child) inside all of us

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2001)

I watched this movie knowing little about it except that it was about a boy who challenged social stereotypes to take up dancing. I don't know what I expected, but I was not prepared for the marvel to which I was about to sit down. Without trying to give any of the movie away, there is little doubt that this movie has tons within it to appeal to the sentimental romantic. But it is not Forrest Gump. There is nothing improbable about this movie. It heralds brilliant performances by actors who have laid the hearts of their characters bare for all to view. There can be few dry eyes when the father is torn between his rigid ideals and the honest love he has to bring his son a future. To bears repeating again, however, there is no schlock to this moment.
As a social commentary, this film ranks highly with Brassed Off, another political critique on Thatcherism and the cost it exacted of coal mining communities. Both films poignantly examine these costs by bringing the lesser known's, the miners and their families, to centre stage. Quirky they might seem, but life is full of quirkiness, especially if one has the courage to throw off the mantles of social constraints and conformity.
It is hard to believe that Stephen Daldry is a first time screen director in this effort. But then, maybe it is not that surprising. Good theatre often makes its audience work and requires it to pay attention. The direction and allusions are often subtle but are hard to miss. We don't need to be told' that Billy's mother is dead by a character. Instead, we see the family interacting, and a couple of photographs, and we can deduce the rest. We are not told about the mining strike in as many words at the beginning, but the emergence of police tells us that we're in for a time of confrontation. Then we see the posters. We see the Billy's friend Debbie run her stick along wall (as children will do) and then across a battery of police shields  a darkly comic moment, but so telling of so many things including: the innocence of the children in a reeling world and the omnipresence of a police state in these small towns. In other words, we enter into' the screen and become almost ghostlike participants in the narrative, like Scrooge being led by the ghost of Christmas present. Perhaps that is why the emotions we feel are so powerful and so draining by the end. We have lived these characters' lives with them.
The performances deserved much more recognition at the Oscars than it received. It is not surprising that Jamie Bell didn't receive a nomination for playing Billy, but he sure played a hell of a role. I guess the Academy can only reward so many first time performances but this is one that deserved mention. Jamie is Billy, or at least he comes across like he is  and that is great acting, regardless of the actor's age. Strong and memorable performances are also provided by Jamie Draven (brother Tony) and Julie Walters (dance teacher, Mrs Wilkinson). The performance Gary Lewis (Dad) is also well presented though I can't help feeling that the role was written powerfully regardless of the actor.
Thus far, of the movies of 2000, I'd rank this only behind Crouching Tiger and in the company of The Contender and Wonder Boys. I easily gave the movie a 9-10 rating. A must see for all.