Beautiful Thing (1996)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Hettie Macdonald

Writers:

Jonathan Harvey (written by)
Jonathan Harvey (play)

Release Date:

9 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

An urban fairytale.

Plot:

In a suburb of London, young Jamie is escaping sport hours, to avoid being the victim of his comrades. Young Ste, his neighbor, is beaten by his father, and comes to sleep overnight. They discover new feelings, sleeping in the same bed.

Plot Keywords:

Housing Estate | Club | Single Mother | Gay Kiss | Single Father

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Meera Syal	...	Miss Chauhan
Martin Walsh	...	Mr. Bennett
Steven M. Martin	...	Ryan McBride
Andrew Fraser	...	Jayson
John Savage	...	Lenny
Scott Neal	...	Ste Pearce
Glen Berry	...	Jamie Gangel
Julie Smith	...	Gina
Linda Henry	...	Sandra Gangel
Jeillo Edwards	...	Rose
Tameka Empson	...	Leah Russell
Anna Karen	...	Marlene
Garry Cooper	...	Ronnie Pearce
Ben Daniels	...	Tony
Daniel Bowers	...	Trevor Pearce

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, pervasive strong language and some drug content.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Singapore:(Banned) | Australia:MA | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Anchor Pub, Rotherhithe, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

When Sandra recalls that Cass Elliot died by choking on a sandwich she is repeating an urban legend. "Mama" Cass actually died of heart failure. Reports immediately after her death (before the autopsy) apparently quoted her doctor as saying she probably died by choking on a sandwich. Despite the results of the autopsy, the sandwich story has stuck.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the party, Leah is holding an object in her hand. If you look closely, you notice that the larger white end is in her hand with the gray thin end on top. When the shot is zoomed out, you can tell it's now upside down with Leah holding the gray thin end in her hand.

Quotes:

Ste: You always wear glasses when you read?
Jamie: Supposed to.
Ste: But you don't at school.
Jamie: It's hardly fetching, is it?
Ste: Nah, looks all right.
Jamie: Really?
Ste: I'm tellin' ya.
Jamie: Cheers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Another Gay Movie (2006)

Soundtrack:

Move In A Little Closer Baby

Self discovery and first love

Gay or straight, this is one of the finest movies ever made about self discovery and teenage love. Albeit the end is a little wishful and optimistic, the characters and situations are perfectly developed and realized, ringing true in almost every scene. This movie makes me smile on every level...from the way the two boys discover their affection for one another, the wonderful comedy relief from the next door neighbor Leah (and her relationship with the entire tenement population), and the perfect choice of soundtrack music from Mama Cass that, at times, seems written specifically for certain scenes and works on both a nostalgic and familiarity level. This movie gets better with every viewing...and I'd love to see what happened to each of the characters in a sequal.

This movie is, without a doubt, very personal to all gay men and women who came out during their youth and a favorite of all of my friends, both gay and straight.