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Beautiful Thing (1996)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
A relaxed, feel-good movie on the theme of gay love, Beautiful Thing benefits from unmannered acting and a sharp script. In the concrete wasteland of South London, life is harsh when you stand apart from the crowd, especially if you're a school-kid. Jamie Gangel (Glen Berry) tends to regularly skip classes, especially football, when the unrelenting bullying breaches a certain threshold. His mother, Sandra (Linda Henry), just doesn't know what to do with him. As a single, working mother Sandra's already got her hands full simply making ends meet. Nevertheless their troubles are as nothing compared to their immediate neighbours. On one side lives Ste Pearce (Scott Neal) with his father and brother, both drunken and abusive layabouts (who seem to take turns beating him up). Opposite, their teenage neighbour Leah (Tameka Empson) skips lessons to play Mama Cass songs at full volume, driving everyone else slightly crazy.

That night, Sandra (coming back from work) stumbles across Ste crying after another session of violence. She invites him back to the flat, where he sleeps top-to-tail with Jamie (a fairly common occurrence it seems). The following evening they're sharing his bed again, although this time Jamie offers to salve some of the ugly bruises covering Ste's back. Whipping out a bottle of peppermint foot lotion, Jamie tentatively massages a little of the pain away. The treatment has subtly erotic effects, as becomes embarrassingly obvious when Ste refuses to turn over onto his back. With a lot of hesitation Jamie and Ste share their first embrace, finding something they need in each other. However, the next morning Ste realises where their relationship has ended up and slips quietly away.

The fear of being known as gay drives Ste away from Jamie (his father would, literally, kill him). Painfully shunned, Jamie tries to find him all day but with little success. Eventually though he tracks Ste down at a local party, forcing a confrontation of their mutual fears and a resolution to face their troubles together. As they leave, Leah spitefully accuses them of being gay (having seen Ste leaving early that morning), an accusation they only partially defend themselves against. Through the succeeding summer days Jamie and Ste glance through gay magazines together, visit a notorious pub and gradually get to really know each other. The only remaining hurdle is other peoples reaction to their "forbidden" love, behaviour which is generally regarded with a great deal of hostility in these inner-city neighbourhoods.

Adapted from a highly successful stage play, Beautiful Thing glows with optimism and good humour. Veering away from the unendearing, preachy tales which often surround gay characters, this is a film of hope, light and love. The dialogue is wonderfully earthy, acute and down-to-earth; the polish of hundreds of performances gives every line a tried and tested quality. The characters themselves are equally believable, empowered with dreams yet burdened by daily life (not that this is story of grinding and wretched poverty with death the only escape!). Combining a first-time director with untested actors could have ended in chaos, yet both Berry and Neal are convincingly gauche whilst the surrounding cast fill their roles adequately. The made-for-TV feel is quite apparent with the camera providing lots of close-up shots and a claustrophobic atmosphere, although this is perhaps symbolic of the pressure to flee from these dead-end flats. Fear not though; the storyline is handled with a light touch and proves genuinely entertaining (even when quite significant issues are handled tangentially).

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