An uplifting film

Rating: 9/10 (28 September 2000)

The young boy in the title role of this film shares a similar history to the eponymous hero - a working class boy from a pit village who harbours a dream of becoming a ballet dancer. This shared background may have contributed to his completely natural performance.Anyone who has witnessed the psychological growing pains of young teenage boys will recognise and respond to the scenes where Billy struggles to express his feelings or shrugs off the clumsy attempts of adults to connect with his world.Unlike 'Brassed off', where the setting of the miners strike threatens to submerge the more personal dramas,the context serves to explain the struggles of the family without condoning, or patronising,the choices they make.
The film plays on every emotion (I got through a lot of hankies) but never descends into mawkishness - though there were a couple of occasions when it teetered on the edge.Julie Walters is excellent as the ballet teacher but the finest performances come from Jamie Bell as Billy and Gary Lewis who is absolutely magnificent as the father whose whole raison d'etre is turned upside down.
This film is likely to rank amongst the very finest of those heart warming 'Gritty Northern' films such as Kes and, of course, the Full Monty.