30 Second Bottom Line: A boy who would rather dance than box comes of age in a strike torn coal mining town in 1980's England.
Story Line: Remember when you were young and you had those flying dreams? Somewhere inside you knew if you tried hard enough, you could transform that flight of fancy into a reality that would change your life. That's the feeling, the innate memory, evoked while watching Billy Elliott.
Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is a motherless eleven-year-old, living with his father and older brother, both coal miners, and his grandmother, who wanders off occasionally. Hard times are upon the family as the miners are out on strike. His father (Gary Lewis III), however, scrapes together the money to pay for boxing lessons each week for Billy, because "Boxing is something lads do."
Mrs. Wilkinson's (Julie Walters) ballet class shares space on the same floor as the boxing gym, and dancing is something that Billy loves to do. Actually moving to a beat is evident in the entire family, whether they are aware of it or not. Notice older brother Tony's (Jamie Draven) improvisations as he moves to the beat coming from his head phones. Watch Dad's swagger as he walks. Grandma (Jean Heywood) claims she could have been a ballerina, and I believe her.
Billy uses his boxing money to study ballet. His talent is apparent and Mrs. Wilkinson suggests that he audition for the Royal Ballet School. Billy shares with her a letter from his dead mother, which he has memorized. "Always be yourself," his mom writes and that's what Billy is doing.
Dad has to let go of one of the last vestiges of his deceased wife as he's forced to hack up her piano for firewood at Christmas. Tony is an angry young man. He's out on strike and wants to do more than just carry signs and shout at scab laborers as they go in to work.
Passion runs deep as a cavernous coal pit in this household. Confrontation and commitment are twin allies when any combination of this family deals with each other. Love is evident when Dad embraces each of his sons and they face economic depression and social suppression.
Like Selma in Dancer in the Dark, Billy also finds release through music and dance, in his case literally, for the world to see. Anger and defiance are tapped away and leaped over. "This is who I am," he's saying to his father in a powerful dance sequence in the gym…and Dad finally gets it.
Tell Me More About It: Performances in Billy Elliot are wonderful all around. Outstanding characterizes Gary Lewis III as Dad, and Julie Walters' Mrs. Wilkinson.
Billy's friends, Michael (Stuart Wells) and Debbie (Nicola Blackwell), display the right touch of pre-pubescent curiosity. The compassion and sensitivity of these young relationships is a revelation. It's probably worth a discussion with any youngster in your life. Jamie Draven brings true angst and depth to his portrayal of Tony. Jean Heywood's Grandma is a study in the dichotomy of Alzheimer's.
Billy Elliot will probably make it onto everyone's top ten list of favorites for the year. Universal in its appeal of overcoming odds, it allows the human spirit to soar. As Billy would say…"It's electric."
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