BILLY ELLIOT is about an 11 year-old boy who hates boxing and instead of continuing with this class, switches to ballet. He loves to dance but is afraid to tell his working-class family because of the perceived "unmanliness" of dance, so he practices without their knowledge until he can no longer hide it--as he has a chance to go to a prestigious ballet academy in London. Will his father and weasel-like older brother back off and let him be who he wants to be or will Billy be cursed to be stuck in a dying town for the rest of his life?

I was very surprised that an inspirational movie like BILLY ELLIOT would be rated R. Generally, this sort of movie is perfect family fare and in so many ways this film is. However, the profuse use of vulgarities really make this a family-unfriendly film and it loses most of its audience. It wasn't just the language that was crude, but hand gestures and sexualized nature of the film that disturbed me. Now for non-British audiences, this might not seem as bad because some of the references have different meanings in other countries. The word "fanny" and the gesture looking like the "peace sign" are interpreted 100% differently in the US, for example--as here, neither would be considered obscene or family-inappropriate. Some may argue that the film used these crudities because that is how people are in these mining towns and perhaps this is true, but would it have seriously negatively impacted the film if these references would have been toned down? I sure doubt it AND the movie could have reached a much wider audience. This is all a real shame, as the structure of the film is similar to many family films. You know, one where someone or a group overcomes tons of obstacles in order to make their dream come true. Plus, as you KNOW that they will win in the end (so there isn't much real tension),this is a style film that might NOT appeal to the more discriminating adult viewer and SHOULD have more appeal more to kids.

As for the rest of the film, it's very well made and entertaining. The acting is fine, the cinematography and direction are all fine. It is a good film--though also one that isn't a "must-see" due to it being rather formulaic and therefore predictable. Worth a look, but don't rush out to rent this one.

This movie is such a good film for a number of reasons. As a study of daring to be different in the fact of intractable tradition, Billy Elliot is beautiful, touching, poignant and very honest. It does start off slowly, but the film does have a lot of heart. Firstly, I liked the story, a young boy who wishes to ballet dance against the the backdrop of the 1984 miner's strike, it was a nice one and is likely to evoke some emotion. Stage director Stephen Daldry makes his feature debut here, and succeeds pretty much brilliantly. Another strong asset was the writing, while funny in places, it is also quite touching. Then the music, I loved hearing the music Tchaikovsky's timeless ballet "Swan Lake", such a melancholy yet enchanting and haunting score. But really the best asset of the film is the acting. Jamie Bell gives a really believable performance in the lead role, while Gary Lewis is marvellous as his dad. The acting honours though go to the brilliant Julie Walters as Billy's chain smoking dance instructor, that role especially proves what a fine actress Walters is. In conclusion, I loved this film. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

BILLY ELLIOT is a mix of tough working class drama and feel good northern comedy; KES meets THE FULL MONTY, if you will. I enjoyed it although I don't think it's a particular classic. The main character feels more than a little hollow to me, you don't really learn much about him other than he likes dancing. Jamie Bell has the physicality but otherwise I felt him a bit one-dimensional. What makes up for this is the excellent 1980s backdrop, which has an air of grit and authenticity to it; that steep Durham street becomes a character in its own right. Details involving the striking miners and the difficult family situation are done just right. While I don't think it's as good as the two films I mentioned above, it's still worth checking out for fans of the feel-good rags-to-riches genre.