Billy Elliott (Movie Review)

This isn't a bad movie, though I was a bit frustrated to realize — after letting it sit on my shelf for two months — that I'd seen it a few years ago and had simple forgotten about it.

Billy Elliot (2000) follows the life of an 11-year-old boy in Northern England; the boy's mother has recently passed away and his father and older brother — both coal-miners — are on strike. Little money is coming into the house, and yet Billy's father scrapes together enough money for Billy to attend boxing lessons.

Imagine his surprise when he stops by one day only to see Billy practicing ballet rather than dancing around a boxing ring. Billy struggles to reason with his father to allow him to continue his private lessons, and even struggles with how others perceive him, often asserting that just because he likes ballet that doesn't mean he's a "poof."

Overall a touching story even if it is a it melodramatic at times.

FINAL GRADE: B-