Beautiful Thing

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

In this alternately somber and witty coming-of-age drama, a pair of teenage boys growing up in a working-class neighborhood become aware of their homosexuality. Introspective Jamie (Glen Berry) is the son of Sandra (Linda Henry), a tough but warm-hearted barmaid who lives in a public housing block in a rough-and-tumble section of South London. Living a few doors away is Jamie's classmate Ste (Scott Neal), an athletic type who often has to take a beating from his hard-drinking father and hard-headed brother. One night, Jamie and Sandra discover that Ste has been kicked out of the apartment and has nowhere to spend the night; Jamie lets him stay at his place, and a casual closeness eventually stirs sexual feelings. While both were vaguely aware they might be gay, neither had ever acted on their impulses, and once Jamie and Ste decide that they're attracted to each other, neither is sure just what to do. Tony (Ben Daniels), Sandra's boyfriend, doesn't know what to think about Jamie's new lifestyle. Meanwhile, Jamie and Ste are themselves a bit puzzled by their neighbor Leah (Tameka Empson), a teenager obsessed with the life and music of Mama Cass Elliott. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Subtitle: Mult
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • cc
  • Digitally mastered audio & anamorphic video
  • Widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital Stereo
  • Bonus trailers
  • Interactive menus
  • Scene selections

AWARDS

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 1996

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Andrew Fraser - Jayson
       Glen Berry - Jamie Gangel
       Jeillo Edwards - Rose
       Ben Daniels - Tony
       Ozdemir Mamodeally - Slasher
       Anna Karen - Marlene
       Marlene Sidaway - Betty
       Liane Ware - Claire
       Catherine Sanderson - Kelly
       Dave Lynn - Drag Performer
       Jonathan Harvey - Wheelchair Queen
       Davyd Harries - Brewery Official

• Director:

  Hettie MacDonald

• Producer:

  Tony Garnett, Bill Shapter

• Screenwriter:

  Jonathan Harvey

• Cinematographer:

  Chris Seager

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Altman

• Songwriter:

  John Altman

• Editor:

  Don Fairservice

• Production Designer:

  Mark Stevenson

• Art Director:

  Chrysoula Sofitsi

• Costume Designer:

  Pam Tait

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  John Midgley

• Makeup:

  Elisa Johnson

• First Assistant Director:

  Susie Liggat, Victoria Goodall, James Imber, Jim Wilkinson

• Casting:

  Andy Pryor, Gail Stevens

• Steadicam Operator:

  Adrian Smith

• Stunts Coordinator:

  David Cronnelly, Gabe Cronnelly

• Steadicam Operator:

  Alf Tramontin

• Location Manager:

  Barry Smith

• Construction Coordinator:

  Ken Marples

• Scenic Artist:

  Guy Rutter

• Sound Editor:

  Kevin Brazier, Wayne Brooks

• Location Manager:

  Jim Allan

• Gaffer:

  John Haylen

• Unit Publicist:

  Anya Noakes

• Runner:

  Nigel Marchant

• Painter:

  Greg Mason

REVIEW:

• Although it's a remarkably unself-conscious, non-dogmatic and tender gay love story, the film Beautiful Thing loses something in its translation from the original stage version. South London writer Jonathan Harvey adapted his own play for the screen and enlisted its original stage director, Hettie MacDonald, but in reworking the material for the cinema the pair lose some of its focus and economy. The oppressively static sense of place that was enforced by the cramped, council-flat setting opens up too much on film, robbing the story of some of its subtext; additional plot points such as an ecstasy-fueled night of revelations detract from the play's almost ritualistic structure. Worst of all, Mama Cass-obsessed supporting character Leah (Tameka Empson) becomes more of a human punchline than a fully realized and sympathetic individual. Despite these shortcomings, though, Glen Berry and Scott Neal are terrific as the tentative young lovers. Stage and television vet Linda Henry, meanwhile, deftly and wittily combines working-class grit, maternal concern and knowing sex appeal as Sandra, the barmaid mum who unwittingly helps the boys come together. Harvey's express intention in writing Beautiful Thing was to prove that working-class gay boys can have happy endings, and on that count this modest film succeeds very well. Sweet, wistful and full of hope -- just like the Cass Elliot songs that pepper the soundtrack -- Beautiful Thing ultimately survives its translation to celluloid. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi