"Billy Elliot"
The coal miners may be in the midst of a tense strike in the northern English mining town of Durham, but young Billy Elliot still has to take the boxing lessons his father insists on. Billy would rather dance than fight, so when Mrs. Wilkinson's all girl ballet class has to share the gym space with the boxers, he sheds his gloves for ballet slippers in "Billy Elliot."
The simplistic script by first-timer Lee Hall runs a routine path with its inspirational story about going after what you love to do regardless of the odds and obstacles. Young Billy has a natural desire to dance and, with the help of the obligatory muse Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters, "Educating Rita"), overcomes every obstacle - principally the prejudice his father has toward dancers, who must be poofters. Inexplicably, dad's fears that his son is becoming a flaming homosexual are shoved aside with little fanfare and, suddenly, pop is crying, saying, "Let's give the boy a #$%&* chance!"
Most everything is handled in this perfunctory manner. Mrs. Wilkinson is intro'd as a dance dynamo and teacher - tough on the outside, but extremely compassionate inside. She pushes Billy to develop his talent and love for dance, encouraging him to apply to the Royal Ballet School in London. Mrs. Wilkinson then drops out of the movie, not even mentioned again, except for a brief coda when Billy goes off to fame and fortune.
Another problem, maybe with the script or maybe with the film's budget, is the sparseness of the supporting cast. Billy is a likable kid, but the movie only shows him having one friend, an obviously closeted Michael (Stuart Wells) whom likes to dress up in his mother's clothes. Michael heavy-handedly represents the "gay" lifestyle, but the kid doesn't dance, so I don't get it. The short shrift given to such background considerations gives the film a shallowness that the energetic performance by Jamie Bell as Billy can't overcome. Gary Lewis, as Billy's dad, also has a considerable presence, but is hamstrung by the banal development of his character's abrupt change of heart.
There is a good deal of visual imagination provided by the camera of Brian Tufano ("Trainspotting") with tightly shot, energetic dance numbers and tense movement when the action joins the coal mine strikers. One amusing tracking shot has Billy's little friend, Debbie, absently dragging a stick along a wall that suddenly becomes a phalanx of police shields. She continues to drag her stick as if along a picket fence, without so much as a glance at the heavily armored cops guarding the strike.
Jamie Bell's Billy is fun to watch as he tramps around in combinations of step dancing, tap, ballet and plain old foot stompin'. There's a lot of energy in his performance, making him the reason for seeing the film. The music selected, especially the nicely used overture from "Swan Lake," complements the story and the dance. Unfortunately, the earthy language negates the inspirational aspect of the yarn that might appeal to younger auds and frequent use of the "F" word may be a turn off. A silly epilogue that features the premier dance of an older Billy doesn't help. I give it a C.
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