#Billy elliot reviews movie#

Soon enough, he's ducking pugilism altogether, and the director, Stephen Daldry, gets vivid footage of the boy, in his baggy shorts and undershirt, mixing it up with the little girls straining so hard for perfection. Wilkinson (Julie Waters) puts them through the positions with all the enthusiasm of a reporter covering his 5,000th fire.Д«illy is instantly transfixed in time, he contrives to hang around after boxing and join the class. He looks across the hall and sees something he likes better: young girls, equally leggy, gawky, awkward, standing at the barre where the burned-out, chain-smoking Mrs.

#Billy elliot reviews movie#

The movie is set in a coal town in the 1980s, when Maggie Thatcher was busy breaking the miners' unions, a turn of events that seems to preoccupy the British creative community just as much as the Battle of the Somme did in earlier generations.Д«illy, played by a cute 14-year-old kid named Jamie Bell, is gawky and unsure, a hank of hair and a piece of bone, and appears not to like getting conked in the head by the lads he finds himself facing in the ring. I'm feeling swell! I love it when a plucky lad links up with an embittered former dancer and the two of them sneak into the neighborhood's grimy rec hall and she teaches him the releve, the arabesque and the pas de chat. Or, no, it's not: It's from the British motion picture industry, in profound and shameless imitation of the American motion picture industry. So it goes in 'Billy Elliot,' this week's feel-good injection of glucose from the American motion-picture industry. They see left-right combos, uppercuts, TKOs he sees pas de deux, plies and fetching pink tights. That adorable Billy Elliot! All he wants to do is dance, dance, dance, but his da and bro have him pegged as a boxer. All there is is definitive proof that this remains one of the best shows in town.Jamie Bell trades punches for pirouettes in 'Billy Elliot.' With national-treasure-in-the making Ruthie Henshall providing strong support as the stern but kindly dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson, Gillian Elisa hitting all the right comic notes as the dotty grandma and Chris Grahamson radiating the palpable anger of the entire working class as BillyвЂ™s brother Tony, thereвЂ™s not a weak link to be found in this production nor. Tonight we saw Brodie Donougher give an extremely impressive account of the part, finding all of the necessary emotion to deliver the fury of Act One closer вЂњAngry DanceвЂќ and the deep fraternal feeling for best friend Michael (a vivacious Todd Bell) in their moving scenes together.

And in вЂњSolidarityвЂќ, thereвЂ™s a sensational synthesis of all these elements as two key storylines play out simultaneously and miners and ballet students dance together in joyous harmony.ДЄnother reason for the success comes with the continual success of the casting process to find so many вЂ“ it must be 30 or so now вЂ“ talented triple threats to play the role of Billy.

So from the hairs-on-end anthemic power of the opening вЂњThe Stars Look DownвЂќ to the spirited ode to self-expression that is BillyвЂ™s solo song and dance number вЂњElectricityвЂќ, thereвЂ™s a joyful abundance of emotion, excitement and enjoyment that lasts from start to finish. Lee HallвЂ™s book brilliantly sets its journey of a young County Durham lad daring to dream of being a dancer against the epic turbulence of the minersвЂ™ strike, Elton JohnвЂ™s score blends soaring musical theatre anthems with both folk traditions and Peter DarlingвЂ™s exceptional choreography is hugely imaginative in the way it weaves dance into the working lives of this community as well as showing off the beauty of BillyвЂ™s balletic prowess. The secret to its success? Well itвЂ™s just so darned good in every aspect. Now in its 10th Year, Billy Elliot is as fabulous as ever!2015 sees Billy Elliot the Musical celebrate its 10th year at the Victoria Palace Theatre and deservedly so, as this long-running show remains a genuine highlight of the West End, capable of reviving the spirits of even the most jaded of theatregoers and delighting newcomers aplenty over the decade since Stephen DaldryвЂ™s production first opened.