Follow your dreams!

Rating: Null/10 (30 August 2014)

Every human has goals they hope to achieve in their lifetime and in Stephen Daldry's "Billy Elliot" we come across a character named Billy Elliot who's goal as an eleven year-old boy is to dance in a ballet class and at a high ranking school. Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) has a difficult life by dealing with his harsh father (Gary Lewis), his mean brother (Jamie Draven) the death of his mother who he was very close to and living in a working class town who is not accepting of Billy's dance. One day at school young Billy encounters a ballet class with all girls and joins the class. His teacher Mrs.Wilkinson (Julie Walters) pushes Billy to be great but also forms a sweet relationship with him and serves as a mother figure. Billy shoots for the stars in trying to get acceptance into a royal dance school but more importantly tries to win the love of his family. This is based on the Broadway play that was a huge hit and as a film it is wonderful. At times I felt certain scenes were unnecessary but in the end I was very satisfied with how Billy's relationships turned out and the choices he made. This film shows a more harsh look at the difficulties in achieving your dreams rather than just everything always working out like in some interpretations of this subject matter. The setting of a blue collar English town is very believable and shows how different people are everywhere and how sometimes accepting change in someone can brighten your life. The relationship between Billy and his family is something I found very moving. The turning points with his father and brother are not just randomly occurring but take time to adjust to. I particularly found Julie Walters' character as Mrs.Wilkinson very helpful to the story. She shows the side of a struggling human just like Billy. That helps them bond. Jamie Bell as a young kid does fine work here and most adults I feel can relate to him even as he is a kid. Stephen Daldry directs this film is a decent fashion, but I feel it could have had better shots and a sadder darker mood more often to really emphasize Billy's struggle. It just seems to happy. The ending he handles beautifully. "Billy Elliot" is a film in which it wants you to ask yourself what is holding you back in life and what you can do to change it.