A movie that hits all the right notes, very deliberately. It sets out to be a crowd-pleaser and it succeeds. Jamie Bell -- who has gone on to a solid adult acting career, appearing in, among others, Nicholas Nickleby, Jane Eyre, The Adventures of Tintin and the Rosemary Sutcliff adaptation The Eagle -- acts his socks off and dances with energy, though it's very clear he's had no actual ballet training. His character is eleven, but he was thirteen and a half when filming began and it shows; on the other hand, Stuart Wells looks and sounds much younger than the seventeen he was during filming. He joined the army after making this!

My Movie Rating: 7 / 10

This is one of my favorite movie

My Movie Rating: 9 / 10

How come I missed reviewing this great film shot only a few miles from where I live? Jamie Bell is fantastic in a part requiring plenty of emotional acting and dancing. Bell said he liked tap dancing and it is apparent in Billy Elliot although he does his best with the ballet scenes. All the grit and desperation of the miner's strike and its effects on Billy's family are well drawn out. Jamie looks great in his boxing gear and his relationship with his dance teacher, Julie Walters, is both funny and moving. The film also deals with a gay friendship ably portrayed by Stuart Wells as Michael, Billy's friend. The cross dressing scene is hilarious and also when Michael warms Billy's hands against his body is so moving. A great film well acted by everyone in it.

My Movie Rating: 8 / 10