Rating: 
Summary: Definitely a winner
Review: Amazingly a film which was profiled as being "The Film of the Year" which actually lived up to its reputation as a powerful, humorous, gritty and sentimental drama about courage, determination and a desire to succeed despite non-conformity. I've seen this film twice and I find something new in it each time, whether it is the stirring scenes with Billy as he struggles for acceptance or the impassioned hatred of those returning to work in what are extremely realistic scenes from the Miners' Strike.Brought up by his father in the harsh back streets of County Durham during the strikes, Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is actively encouraged to participate in boxing by his father yet he discovers a new talent ..for ballet. Short of asking outright to be ostracised, Billy fervently pursues his passion with Julie Andrews as his practical and emotional mentor before his father and brother discover what is going on, bringing about a scene of evocative anger, frustration and stubbornness. After applying for trials at the London Ballet School, Billy demonstrates his routine for his friend Michael, the teenager struggling to deal with his homosexuality, but his father walks in on him and is forced to confront his morals, dreams and principles. To go any further would ruin the ending but this is a fantastic picture with a wonderful soundtrack, see it if only for the epic chase scene involving Billy's brother and the police to the tune of London Calling from The Clash. This is truly fantastic and justifies itself as one of the films of the year.
Rating: 
Summary: rental schmental
Review: i thought this movie was pretty funny when i watched it. i'd watch it again but buying it seems a little excessive.
Rating: 
Summary: Heart-tugger
Review: This is one of the funniest, most uplifting movies ever released. You won't be disappointed. I laughed, I cried and then I felt really good about life after watching Billy Elliot fight for his dream. The acting is top-notch.
My only complaint is the ending. Spoiling warning. The movie should have finished when Billy was accepted into the ballet academy, not with him on stage wearing a costume that will confuse all but the ballet fanatic. The film doesn't explain, but Billy is clearly performing in a certain theater in London whose dancers are all gay.
Did we really need to know that he turned out gay, as did his childhood friend, who was reduced to a stereotype wearing makeup in the audience at the end? The boys' sexual orientations were clear throughout the whole film -- and were never a central issue. So I found it unsettling that such a dignified, subtle film had such an in-your-face finale.
Don't let this small grouch, however, keep you from watching. "Billy Elliot" is about my favorite film.
Rating:
Summary: The Dancer in All of Us
Review: This film is genuinely heartwarming. The young Billy Elliot doesn't box like the other boys in his neighborhood--he dances. The film traces one boy's love of ballet, the turmoil in his family life while he seeks the approval of his father, and the special relationship with his dance instructor. If you have ever had a dream to do something with your life, you should watch this movie. It is one of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: A British Rocky (In Tights)
Review: This film is a real winner. Set against the backdrop of the coalminer's strike of the late 1980's in Northern England, the film is about an adolescent boy(Jamie Bell) who wants to pursue ballet instead of more manly pursuits such as boxing despite the social and economic pressures that are against such a dream. Jamie Bell is just luminous as Billy. You can feel the fire that burns inside him as he pursues this dream. My favorite scene in the film is one where he dances his frustrations out of anger with the Jam's "A Town Called Malice" playing on the soundtrack. Good support is offered here by Gary Lewis as Billy's father, a widower who has the burden of raising his family and also towing the union line in the miner's strike. Julie Walters is equally fine as Billy's sympathetic ballet teacher. What I did like about the film is that it effectively portrayed it's sympathies for the striking miners without going over-the-top. There was a film called "Brassed Off" that was released a few years earlier that I thought was too heavy-handed in it's politics to be effective. On a final note, I love the use of T-Rex music on the soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: The Triumph of Self-Expression
Review: This film paints a great picture of how staying true to one's self can be difficult, but worth it. The lead character is perfectly cast, and the dialogue is tough, gritty, and real. I found the 'angry tap-dance' to be an exceptionally strong scene - a tremendous release from the tension caused by Billy's situation. Movies like this provide the very best response to art - the transcendence of the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Inspirational!
Review: An excellent film and most inspirational. The plot, though perhaps a little simple, is wonderfully brought to life by the acting of Bell and Walters. The simplicity of the plot, does by no mean that the film itself is at all simple, for it tackles a somewhat difficult subject of being allowed to do, not just what you are good at, but also what one WANTS to do. A question begs to be asked: Is real life really like this? The answer no, but it should be!
Though of course one can say that there have been many films on this subject in the past, "Billy Elliot", I think tackles new(ish) ground because of the stereotypical gender roles being reversed. There are many films about girls wanting to be ballet dancers and boys wanting to be football stars etc, but few films with the roles being changed, "Bend it Like Beckham" being an obvious exception to this of course!
I certainly look forward seeing to Jamie Bell's future career, especially when one of his other films, "Deathwatch", being also as well acted, if not better through acting experience.
In summation, a difficult role, but one carried off to near perfection for a first time role.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Wow. This movie is really great. There is no bad acting in it and I was never bored during the whole thing.
This is a movie to see over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: A fun movie, nicely done, but what about the subplot?
Review: As a male ballet dancer who is not gay(most male ballet dancers are not gay, contrary to what some may think) I would like to point something out about this story that seems obvious, but has not been pointed out from what I have seen.( I will assume that the reader of this is already familiar with some of the other reviews.) Basically, the overall plot is that if you are a guy, you don't have to be gay to dance ballet, but the story presents us with the following facts: Billy is very uncomfortable with his girlfriend, turning down a kiss offered to him by her(and more) offering her a pillow fight as a diversion; Billy seems quite comfortable with his gay guy friend(nothing wrong with that),he even kisses him goodby near the end; Billy shows homophobia at the Royal Ballet School when a fellow male student innocently touches his hand to console him; finally, when we see Billy dancing as a professional adult, he is in a famous homoerotic version of Swan Lake. Gee wiz, we might almost conclude that maybe the story is trying to tell us something else here. Of course these issues are not resolved in the story. I still recommend this movie highly(there are also some wonderful surreal elements to the story,such as when Billy's girlfriend innocently runs a stick across a line of riot policemen as if they were a picket fence); it is definitely worth seeing, but why is this aspect not being discussed?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent moive, good music and extradionary dancing.
Review: I can't say enough about Billy Elliot. The boy who plays Billy ( Jamie Bell) started ballet dancing when he was 6, this film is his debut. He's 13 now and by the looks of his leg muscles he's been working out hard. The film has an excellent sound track and another surprise boy whom loves Billy. You'll love Billy Elliot, it's the most exciting and heartwarming film I've seen this year. William
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