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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Nell Minow

In 1984 England, the police come to the small mining town of Durham to keep order during a strike. Amidst the tension, 11-year-old Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), whose main sport is boxing, is pulled into a ballet lesson taught by Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters). Billy discovers that ballet both answers and creates a need in him that he can no more name than he can resist. Billy lives with his father (Gary Lewis), brother, and grandmother; his mother died the year before, his grandmother is forgetful, and his father and brother are on strike. With the adults busy with their own problems, Billy is able to keep his new activity a secret ... for awhile. When his father eventually finds out, he's furious and tells his son to quit. But Billy has to dance -- and it might even be his way to bigger and better things.

Is It Any Good?

4

BILLY ELLIOT is well above average -- tender, funny, and touching. Bell is extraordinary as Billy, and Lewis is first-rate as the father who makes an unbearably painful sacrifice in order to give his son the chance he never had. Director Stephen Daldry has a real gift for visual storytelling. A chase through hanging laundry, dance lessons in a boxing ring, and the opening shot of Billy on a trampoline are images that are fresh and memorable.

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