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The story of "Billy Elliot" is as old as the coal buried in England's hills – the trials and tribulations of a young lad in a tough English mining town as he follows his talents to the top. But, unlike similar flicks from the Hollywood stable, this charming Brit tale is told in a fresh way, devoid of the rah-rah American style.

Our Rating
Reviewer	Marisa Dean
Rated	R
Running Time	111 mins
Starring	Julie Waters, Gary Lewis, Jaime Bell
Screenplay	Lee Hall
Director	Stephen Daldry
Website	http://www.billyelliot.com
Movie Details	The Internet Movie Database

Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is a shy 11-year-old, obedient to his widowed, long-suffering father, devoted to his absent-minded grandmother and quietly respectful of his older brother. But he’s an utter failure when it comes to boxing, which he attempts at rundown neighbourhood boys' club to please his macho dad. "You’re a disgrace to those gloves, your father and this hall,” Billy’s coach declares.

It’s only when the ballet class has to share a space with the boxers that Billy stumbles on the little girls in tutus and their sharp-tongued ballet teacher Mrs Wilkinson (Julie Walters). The ballet intrigues Billy, and Mrs Wilkinson quickly notices the boy's agility and his ability to move with a surprising amount of grace. She pushes Billy to develop the hidden talent that ultimately allows him to escape his grim situation. Soon enough, Billy is spending his boxing money on dance classes, stealing ballet books from the library, and studying Fred Astaire's moves. He secretly rehearses in the bath and hides his dance clothes and shoes under a mattress.

The story of Billy's rise from puny boxer to contender for a spot at the prestigious Royal Ballet School is juxtaposed with a major subplot concerning his father (Gary Lewis) and brother (Jamie Draven), who are embroiled in an extended, violence-marred miner's strike. Several of the inventive and invigorating dance sequences are broken with shots of angry strikers demonstrating their displeasure with the scabs.

The acting is exemplary. Jamie Bell makes an auspicious movie debut as Billy, and Gary Lewis finds the full range of the inarticulate but unexpectedly complex father. His performance, like almost everything about "Billy Elliot," keeps the audience hanging on for the next scenario, even though the ending is somewhat predictable.

The dancing is equally delicious. Jamie Bell’s brisk, witty way of moving his small body is terrifically effective, especially in the "We Love to Boogie" number that Billy performs with his teacher. Peter Darling's choreography sneaks up on the audience, as tiny moments of dance are thrown into the frisky Billy's ordinary movements around the house, through fields and around town.

The movie is the accomplished debut feature from stage director Stephen Daldry ("Via Dolorosa", "An Inspector Calls"). It is notably short on sentimentality and laced with an appealing harshness, befitting its working-class milieu. Part of director Daldry's achievement is that this deeply-felt story is often comic but never for a moment cute.

Daldry and screenwriter Lee Hall take time to explore the complicated relationship between Billy and Mrs Wilkinson, a woman with an alcoholic, boorish husband and a good-hearted passion to give her gifted student the tools with which to take advantage of his talents. "Miss, you don't fancy me, do you?" Billy asks his teacher, in one of several smartly-placed bits of comic relief. Billy additionally navigates his way around the romantic attentions of a couple of schoolmates of both sexes.

This is a multi-layered film about acceptance, about music and the art of dance, about fathers and sons, and about the coming-of-age of a pre-teen English lad. It’s a real gem of movie that, while not outwardly everyone’s cuppa tea, will soften a little spot in even the hardest heart.