The best British-made film I have seen

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2001)

It looks like a typical 'follow your dreams' movie. But once you sit down on the couch and watch the first five minutes of this movie, you won't be leaving.
I've always wanted to see Billy Elliot in the movies and never got the chance. Finally, I was able to see it on video-tape and jeez, I should have watched it earlier.
Billy Elliot takes place in the 1980's in a small, lower class English town. Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is into boxing when a ballet class moves into the gym where he's practicing. He stumbles onto the class and joins. Hiding the fact that he is dancing from his friends and family, he continues to box and dance.
Billy's brother and father are working in a mine when a strike erupts and times are tough. While the brother is protesting, the father continues to work to support his family, enduring the hell ride to the mine.
Meanwhile, Billy's family finds out he is dancing privately with the ballet teacher. Billy's father and brother are now p***ed, calling him a "poof" which I can only think to mean gay or a girl. While Billy's brother is planning to kill his father because the father is too mean, beating both children, Billy stops it.
In the end, Billy tries out for an audition into a well-respected dancing school in London. Beating up a kid in the locker room and getting in trouble for it, Billy goes home in tears with his father. One day he gets a letter and finds out he's accepted. The strike is now over, unfortunately.
------
Thousands of British lads auditioned for Billy Elliot, and only one made it. Jamie Bell, a cute boy who delivers a flawless performance. No one could have done it better than him. Jamie is not a child actor, he's a real actor and you see it in his emotions.
Again, this looks like the follow your dreams movies, but it isn't. Even the sensitive subject of homosexuality is touched in Billy Elliot. The movie is the best British movie I have seen, five stars, number one, all the way.
This movie is the third best movie I've seen and trust me, I've seen a lot. There is a bit too much using the 'f' word but it adds the harsh flavor to the movie.
Bottom Line: Don't see Billy Elliot and you're missing out on a lot.