Billy Elliot (2000)
88%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 3 Oscars
57 wins & 73 nominations total
Billy Elliot is a charming movie that can evoke both laughter and tears
Billy Elliot is a movie that will make you want to dance, even if you have two left feet. Critics have called it “immensely moving” and “extraordinary,” but let’s be real, the best part is watching a young boy from a blue-collar community defy expectations and pursue his passion for ballet. Sure, there’s some strong language, but that just adds to the charm. Take a twirl with Billy and you won’t be disappointed.
Production Company(ies)
Igor Film Casbah Film
Distributor
USA Films, Universal Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Easington, Peterlee, County Durham, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language
Year of Release
2000
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 50m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United Kingdom
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 13, 2000 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2003
Genre(s)
Drama/Lgbtq+
Keyword(s)
starring Julie Walters, Jamie Bell, Jamie Draven, Gary Lewis, Jean Heywood, Stuart Wells, directed by Stephen Daldry, written by Lee Hall, drama, LGBTQ+, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Charlotte O’Sullivan, Nell Minow, Peter Travers, Alexander Walker, Paul Tatara, Joanne Laurier, Leigh Paatsch, Eve Tushnet, Nick Rogers, Ted Murphy, Jim Lane, produced by Greg Brenman, Jonathan Finn, R rating, coal miner’s son, ballet class, dance, Mrs Wilkinson, raw talent, tart tongue, cigarettes, teaching, potential, Thatcher, miners strikes, northern England, blue-collar community, socio-economic hardship, coming of age, fathers and sons, homosexuality, stereotypes, working-class, north-south divide, Geordie, Yorkshireman, Mackem, feel-good, dramatic, conflict, uncertainty, sexuality, Disney, horror movies, MCU, Netflix series
Worldwide gross: $109,283,018
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $189,542,190
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 727
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 20,669,814
US/Canada gross: $21,995,263
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $38,148,931
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,187
US/Canada opening weekend: $215,681
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $374,081
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,476
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $5,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $8,672,079
Production budget ranking: 1,724
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $4,669,914
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $176,200,197
ROI to date (est.): 1,321%
ROI ranking: 85
Jamie Bell – Billy
Jamie Draven – Tony
Gary Lewis – Dad
Jean Heywood – Grandma
Stuart Wells – Michael
Director(s)
Stephen Daldry
Writer(s)
Lee Hall
Producer(s)
Greg Brenman, Jonathan Finn
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
57 wins & 73 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (119) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (101) | Rotten (18)
It’s as raw a slice of escapism as you could wish for.
November 15, 2017
Charlotte O’Sullivan
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Terrific story of young ballet dancer has strong language.
December 22, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
June 4, 2001 | Rating: 4.5/5
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
Immensely moving.
January 1, 2000
Alexander Walker
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Bell is extraordinary as Billy, the best child actor performance since Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Movie Mom
TOP CRITIC
Bravo! to everyone involved.
January 1, 2000
Paul Tatara
CNN.com
TOP CRITIC
Billy Elliot is not a masterpiece, but it is a work, in the first place, driven by considerable feeling.
March 5, 2021
Joanne Laurier
World Socialist Web Site
Take a twirl with Billy and you won’t be disappointed.
June 12, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
Billy Elliot almost always makes the wrong choice, for the saccharine over the convincing.
March 19, 2019
Eve Tushnet
Patheos
The film about atypical artistic pursuits in a blue-collar community that “The Full Monty” sought to be. Peter Darling’s choreography dexterously captures the defiance in the dancing – rage against economical and emotional repression in a motherless home.
September 25, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/4
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap
September 8, 2009 | Rating: 5/5
Ted Murphy
Hollywood.com
August 7, 2008 | Rating: 2/5
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review…
Plot
County Durham, during the endless, violent 1984 strike against the Margaret Thatcher closure of British coal mines. Widower Jackie Elliot (Gary Lewis) and his firstborn, fellow miner Tony (Jamie Draven), take a dim view of eleven-year-old second son Billy’s (Jamie Bell’s) poor record in boxing class, which worsens when they discover he sneakily transferred to the neighboring, otherwise girls-only-attended ballet class. Only one schoolmate, closet-gay Michael Caffrey (Stuart Wells), encourages Billy’s desire, aroused by the teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson (Dame Julie Walters), who judged him talented enough for private lessons, to train and try out for the world-renowned Royal Ballet audition. Only the prospect of a fancy career unimagined in the pauper quarter may twist pa and big brother’s opposition to indispensable support.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Billy Elliot on Fresh Kernels.
Stephen-Daldry.jpg
