Not that good.

Rating: 4/10 (7 February 2005)

*Some Spoilers* Spoiled by some poor acting and unappealing characters, particularly the Billy of the piece and his older brother and father. How am I suppose to feel uplifted with such men? There transformation to being supportive of Billy was unconvincing.
Its tone was confused - politically biting, tragic, inspiring? It ended up being none. It was all laid on too thickly at times. Characters that were far more interesting were glossed over - Billy's transvestite friend, the sassy daughter of Billy's dance teacher (and 'girlfriend'), his dancing teacher coping with her home life.
Some scenes were just overplayed and so lost their impact. Eg, the police invasion, Billy's sudden tap dancing up the street (which didn't make sense since he was learning Ballet, not tap). However, I did enjoy the scenes with the strikers waiting for the 'scabs' buses. The atmosphere of the town was fantastic as well.
Messy and uneven but the central premise that machismo and brute force will fail when up against inner strength and passion was good to see in a movie (so rare these days).