Unlike the eccentric yet equally profound "Beautiful Thing", this British romantic drama about gay teens yells a real story about real kids who are for the most part truly believable and almost all likable. The story focuses on one shy kid, the victim of bullies, who gets a crush on the totally likable school jock and makes a surprising discovery. Natural young actors give their all, yet these aren't cardboard cut-outs but flesh and blood young people with secrets and insecurities. Even the parents are filled with multiple dimensions, and while there are some homophobic bullies, they are presented fairly as well.
The acting is sublime with the two young leads attractive but not cardboard cookie cut-outs. Their desires are real, and while there is a sequence that presents an obvious carnal knowledge scenario, the way it is presented isn't done for shock, only insinuating a liaison between someone underage and an obviously older man with an obvious secret life. The ending gets truly gripping as the secrets of the supposedly straight jock are threatened with revelation. But even though there are a violent turn of events that aren't in keeping with what had come before, but they make absolute sense. The ending may have you sobbing. If just one out of ten homophobes can see this film and change their tune, then this film has done more than its duty.
The acting is sublime with the two young leads attractive but not cardboard cookie cut-outs. Their desires are real, and while there is a sequence that presents an obvious carnal knowledge scenario, the way it is presented isn't done for shock, only insinuating a liaison between someone underage and an obviously older man with an obvious secret life. The ending gets truly gripping as the secrets of the supposedly straight jock are threatened with revelation. But even though there are a violent turn of events that aren't in keeping with what had come before, but they make absolute sense. The ending may have you sobbing. If just one out of ten homophobes can see this film and change their tune, then this film has done more than its duty.