VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Beautiful Thing
QQQQ1/2
Without a doubt, one of the greatest coming out films ever made.
A pair of high school boys find love in the projects of working-class London in this engaging charmer. Jamie (Glen Berry) and Ste (Scott Neal) are neighbors struggling with their own personal demons. Both come from broken homes. Jamie lives with his enterprising barmaid mom (Linda Henry) and her open-minded boyfriend (Ben Daniels), while Ste shares the flat next door with an abusive father and his bully-in-training older brother.
To escape the beatings, Ste occasionally spends the night with Jamie and the two begin to tentatively discover their love for each other. Observing the goings-on is another neighbor, Leah (Tameka Empson), a singer-wannabe whose obsession with late '60s songstress Mama Cass is matched only by her big mouth.
Though Beautiful Thing steers clear of anything too heavy -- Jamie's persecution at school is only hinted at and we're never given any insight into what Ste's dad thinks of all this -- the boys' budding romance is so cute (for lack of a better word) that its probability becomes irrelevant.
The young leads make believable boyfriends, and stunning performances from Empson and particularly Henry as the stoic but supportive mom make this one a keeper.