Excellent, but seemed somewhat superficial

Rating: 7/10 (4 September 2000)

Billy Elliot would have been a great movie, if only its enthusiasm, which was so integral to the dance and storyline, hadn't been its downfall in dealing with inter-character relationships. The movie presented the dance scenes well and with fervor, and the English countryside backdrop was spectacular. As well, the language and British slang used, although hard to understand at times, was perfect for the characters and the movie.
However, the movie was too enthusiastic in trying to do "good" in the end, and was slightly too formulaic. From the moment Billy made his speech about dance being a "fire in his heart" and like "electricity", the audience could easily tell the rest of the movie.
In the director and screenwriter's enthusiasm to make a majority of the scenes (especially the dance ones) excellent, they ran by major points too quickly, and the movie seemed somewhat superficial. By trying to do too much, the movie accomplished little in terms of depth: Billy's relationship with his homosexual friend; Billy's thought process as to whether he himself was homosexual; his relationship with the dance teacher's daughter; Billy's deceased mother and her effect on the family; and the coal miner's strike, all things that contributed to the family's plight, could have been delved into in additional detail. These could all have been examined more in order to show us something about the personalities and actions of Billy and the other characters. By merely glossing over them, the movie tried to stay away from the serious and give audiences only happy endings, in the style of a more family-oriented movie (despite this movie's R rating). The movie also tended to drag at points.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, due to its enthusiasm. Some of the scenes were light, and very humourous. However, the movie was able to use dark moods and anger effectively when the need arose.

Some relationships, such as the one between Billy and his father and Billy and his teacher, were explored in more depth with excellent results. The grandmother was a great character, used to show the family's plight as well as the caring aspects of Billy's personality. Billy's father was an excellent actor, and a perfect foil to Billy. The enthusiasm the actors showed for their roles is rarely matched. It was almost as if Jamie Bell "became" Billy, which is especially difficult for child actors to do.
Even though I personally am not all that enamored with dance, this movie's dance scenes were well placed, well performed, and definately furthered the story.
A solid, if not spectacular, movie, and definitely worth the money to go see it. If nothing else, you'll learn a few pieces of British slang.
7/10