'Billy Elliot' sleeper hit of the year

Who would have thought a movie about a boy's love for ballet would turn out to be one of the best films of the year. The British sleeper hit "Billy Elliot" does just that.\nSet in 1984 in a small town on England's northern coast, "Billy Elliot" is the tale of the 11-year-old protagonist who is given 50 pence every week to take boxing lessons. Billy isn't very good at boxing and secretly yearns to take ballet. Billy's widowed father and brother, coal miners on strike, do not think ballet is acceptable for boys. Billy defies them and tries for a spot in London's Royal Ballet School to fulfill his dream of becoming a dancer. The question is, will Billy's family accept him and his love for the ballet?\nWhat makes this film work is its honest performances. To the huge credit of director Stephen Daldry, the young actors are incredible. As Debbie, dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson's sexually precocious daughter, Nicola Blackwell is so deadpan, the camera and the audience fall in love with her immediately. Stuart Wells, who plays Billy's sexually confused best mate, is also amazing. The audience is allowed to see his pain, not only of being himself but also of the fear of losing his best friend and possibly the only person who accepts him for who he is.\nBut the movie would not succeed without a strong Billy Elliot, and Daldry found him. Jamie Bell's performance is charming, conniving, full of passion and driven to succeed. We see his joy when he can dance and his pain when he is told it is wrong. He keeps his family strong and, just as they are about to fall apart, he is able to bring them back together.\nThe adults are equally good, most notably Julie Walters as Mrs. Wilkinson. Funny and determined, the audience can only hope she doesn't lose faith in Billy because she is the only one who believes in him. Billy's emotionally repressed father (Gary Lewis) turns in a tear-jerking performance as well.\n"Billy Elliot" is a wonderful movie, and audiences should embrace it. While it might be hard to accept as a movie about a male ballet dancer, it is also a movie about the triumph of the human spirit and being yourself. For that, it deserves to be seen.