Cheap Beautiful Thing (DVD) (Hettie MacDonald) Price

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Customer Reviews of Beautiful Thing

A fine little film with few peers for the genre
BEAUTIFUL THING may be almost ten years old but the simplicity and honesty of the approach of a gay coming-out film is still hard to match. Director Hettie MacDonald has gathered a group of actors so fresh and real that the story seems more like eavesdropping than a movie. <
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>Jamie (Glen Barrie) lives with his mum Sandra (Linda Henry), a blowsy, tacky, loud but heart of gold waitress, in a housing project. Jamie plays soccer and does all the right things - except he is a closeted gay lad who is forced to come to grips with that fact. He falls in love with Ste (Scott Neal) who lives next door to Jamie's flat and is regularly beaten by his father and brother. How these two come together and eventually move into the world more acquainted with their sexuality and its complexities forms the storyline. <
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>The actors are all superb, including Sandra's boyfriend du jour Tony (Ben Daniels) and the hilarious Leah (Tameka Empson). But the performance by Linda Henry is a stand out: she finds the love in this brazen woman and allows it to surface. Likewise Glen Barrie's Jamie is wholly and palpably believeable. <
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>If there is a fault with this film it is in the dialect of this London suburb: turn on the English subtitles so that you can understand what is being said! Grady Harp, January 2005

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Absolutely a must for any collection.
I had read the reviews and decided to get it on a lark. I was so thrilled I did. In my opinion, this is a must-have DVD. The actors did a brillaint job, and I think every viewer will be able to identify with at least 1 character. I simply can't say enough good about it. It was so touching, heart warming, and humorous. It takes you through a range of emotions, and the ending is absolutely wonderful.

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Beautiful Thing lives up to its title
This has to be my favorite movie of this type of theme. Two teenage boys, at first seeming like aquaintances and then friends, become lovers after one of them is abused by his father and brother and seeks refuge in the other boys home. While mother and boyfriend watch "The Sound of Music" in the adjacent room, the two young lads make love to each other. There is no sexual graphic context, just an implication of it as one of the boys gets out of bed, naked. This is genuinely moving love story because it deals with several issues. The single mother must choose between a covetted career and a stoner boyfriend who befriends her son. When the young couples secret is discovered, the drama becomes a little intense but it seems like the true power of family shines through. This is a wonderful movie because this is not a "stereotypical" film. HIV isn't really brought up and that makes more room to explore the love and friendships that begin to bloom. And... the final scene alone makes this one of the best romantic movies of all time. Beautiful Thing is as beautiful as its title so aptly suggests and it may take a while for another movie of this callibre to come along.