Rating: 
Summary: excellent movie
Review: Worth every second that I watched. Julie Walters, Gary Lewis and Jamie Bell are flawless.
Rating: 
Summary: Get the Kleenex.
Review: Expertly made tear-jerker, brilliant performances all round. Gary Lewis as the father is underrated, Stephen Daldry should search the cutting room floor for what could have been cut out in the transformation of his character. The film would have been better without the Hollywood ending despite Adam Cooper's breathtaking leap.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: After all the wonderful things I heard about this movie, I was really excited to see it. Needless to say, after watching it on VHS, I was very disappointed. The plot was formulaic, the scenes seemed contrived. There wasn't very much character depth and development, and the acting could have been better. Some of it just didn't make sense within the flow of the movie, as if certain things were just thrown in for the sake of making the movie longer. I don't want to trash a movie that everyone else seems to love, but I honestly don't see the appeal. However, my boyfriend whom I anticipated wouldn't like the film at all gave it favorable reviews, so I guess it does have some sort of mass appeal. Overall, I guess my expectations were too high from the beginning. It's a cute, feel-good movie, but I don't think it's deserving of all the acclaim that it's gotten.
Rating:
Summary: What a JOY!!!
Review: I rented this, based on several freinds saying it was a great movie. This sort of film is not usually my type, but I decided to see it based on one particular strong recommendation. Well, needless to say, I was totally blown away. Jamie Bell's performance was superb, and his emotional roller coaster ride was extremely convincing. His dancing was also top notch. The characters did a great job with the hopeless feeling of a struggling town, and the awful effect of the strike on the town's inhabitants. I laughed and cried, as Billy finally breaks free, and his father finally breaks down and admits that maybe he should give his kid a chance. The scene in the coal yard with Billy's older brother and dad was a serious tear jerker, and showed a previously unseen tender side to a really nasty dad. If I have to complain about anything on this DVD is the over all sound quality, and the very difficult to understand dialect. There were a few times I had to hit the repeat button to understand what had been said. However, this did not stop me from enjoying the superb movie. This DVD will now join my growing DVD library on a permanent basis!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Breaks gender stereotypes
Review: Billy Elliot goes to the gym in a working-class neighborhood in England to take boxing lessons. At the other end of the gym he sees ballet lessons going on and he finds that he enjoys dancing more than boxing. His coal mining father is on strike from the mines and he explodes when he finds out what Billy is doing. Billy endures taunts from his big brother and his friends, but he perseveres in secret by taking lessons from a woman who believes in his talent. Eventually he has the opportunity to audition for a major ballet school and to win over those who doubted him. This movie is beautifully made and the scenes which juxtapose Billy's energetic dancing with the violence of his father's picket line are brilliant. This is all about gender stereotypes, a young boy's dedication to his dream, and a father's love. A wonderful movie!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Heart-Touching Story
Review: A friend from Ireland recommended this movie to me, as it had touched him deeply. I saw the DVD of it about 3 weeks ago, and it has been on my mind ever since. The acting job by Jamie Bell is superb - I cannot imagine why he didn't win any major awards for his portrayal of Billy Elliot. The accents are hard to understand, but it is worth putting the effort into it. This story should touch your heart in a very special way - I know it did mine.
Rating:
Summary: ITS A CRACKER!!
Review: I had heard many good things about this film, but nothing prepared me for its sheer BRILLIANCE!!!!!!! all I could think after watching was.. "oh my giddy aunt , WHERE did they find Jamie Bell?!!" ..and what a dancer he was!!! All in all, a tearjerking extravaganza of emotions!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Coalminer's Son & Brother Becomes Ballet Dancer
Review: This is a heart-warming movie about a boy, Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), who wants to become a ballet dancer despite his coalminer family's opposition. He makes this decision while his family is out on strike, which puts even more pressure on the situation. A big problem to these coal miners is that ballet is seen as a non-manly pursuit that opens up big questions as to a boy's sexual preference. Although Billy himself is not gay, one of his friends in the town is. Both of them might as well have arrived in spaceships into this town with these kinds of differences from the macho coalminers, seen hard at battle with a huge number of the British police. Julie Walters does a nice job as the local ballet teacher who helps Billy to audition for the Royal Ballet. Very nicely done movie but I can't say that huge new artistic ground was covered here. We've seen many movies with similar plots and themes done equally as well. Nice night's viewing though. You'll enjoy it. Hubby and I both did.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful movie but quality controlstinks
Review: this is one awesome movie. i was moved to tears more than once. jamie bell is pure talent. hope to see more of him in the future. i am on my third disk and quality control (...). i am going to have to return this one. at several points on the dvd it simply stops, pauses for a few seconds, starts again. sometimes it reverts to an earlier scene. i have yet to watch the entire movie from start to finish.
Rating:
Summary: I've gotta say
Review: If anything proves the irrelevance of the MPAA's rating system, this movie is it; it should've had no more than a PG-13. Wonderful movie. Jamie Bell and Julie Walters were terrific. Then ending was a let-down; the 14 year flash-forward seemed tacked on and pointless.
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