Pretty good

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2017)

This is one of the only feature films I've seen that is about kids but not geared for kids (the only other that comes to mind is Stand By Me). This sort of combination is found a lot in independent shorts, and it just goes to show how kids are forced into an unkind world well before most of their parents would wish them to. It's unfortunate, because this portrays a child's journey of following his dreams pretty realistically in my opinion, whereas a movie with a lower MPAA rating would give a more romantic take on it and be "kid friendly" but also potentially misleading.
What the movie does a very nice job of that I am only realizing now is how it shows the way that ballet affects Billy's life. Ballet changes *what* Billy is, not *who* he is-- his life views and his circumstances, yes, but not who he is as at his core. Ballet, his previously undiscovered passion, gives him something to confirm his identity with, but does not bring about any great changes within him on a emotional or moral level. Instead, it brings about change in those around him and gives them a new perspective and hope, namely his dad.
The relationship between Billy and his dad was a little shakier. There's a common belief among screenwriters that third act problems originate in the first act, and I think that holds true here. Billy and his dad's relationship seems like it begins right when the movie does, which may be true given the recent death of Billy's mother. The only things that were used to establish their dynamic were social norms, which is not intrinsically bad, but immediate family members don't relate to each other based solely on social norms no matter how non-existent their relationship is. I don't want to totally bash the father-son portrayal here, because it actually avoids most of the common and annoying tropes that come with such movies. But there was definitely a foundation missing.
It was surprisingly entertaining to see Billy discovering his love of dancing. Jamie Bell owns his performance in this respect, conveying an unashamed love of dance without coming off as a "poof". As a young man who has had many passion hobbies (one of which is analyzing movies), I could see a lot of parallels between my own experiences and those of Billy becoming a dancer. It begins with some uncertainty as to whether he likes it and whether he's any good at it, then a fear of whether he wants to identify with his new passion, then embracing ballet internally while hiding it from those close to him. Granted, my own hobbies have not been met with such resistance as Billy's but there's always a bit of a fear that they will.
I would recommend anyone over 13 seeing this. Yes, there's a lot of language, but trust me, it's nothing a 13 year old hasn't heard. The same goes for the homosexual motifs. There are things about it that I think could have been better, but it was pretty good overall with some great emotional themes and an innocent undertone amidst hopeless circumstances. Overall Rating: 8/10.