Beautiful Thing

A nice little 'coming out' film that could have benefitted from being moved on a little more quickly if anything. And on a personal note, the last scene left me snorting derisively because it had appeared to strive for 'realism' until that moment, but suddenly it drifted off into the realms of fantasy in a big way!

 My major gripe with it is the way all the straight characters are the most appalling stereotypes imaginable. All the straight women are whores and all the straight men are mindless thugs. While I'm aware that this has been happening to gay characters for years, this doesn't make it acceptable just because they've turned the tables.

Summary:

Two boys growing up next door to each other in a block of flats on a rough council estate in London find that they're drawn to each other and slowly begin a relationship.

One is regularly beaten and abused by his father and brother, the other boys mother has an endless parade of boyfriends, the current one being much younger than she is and a casual soft drug user, though he's essentially a 'nice guy'.

Essentially a nice 'feel good' movie that doesn't really push any boundaries or surprise you in any way.

3.5 Bones