Beautiful Thing (1996)

Director:

Hettie Macdonald

Writers:

Jonathan Harvey (play)
Jonathan Harvey (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

An urban fairytale.

Plot:

In a suburb of London, young Jamie is escaping sport hours, to avoid being the victim of his comrades. Young Ste, his neighbor, is beaten by his father, and comes to sleep overnight. They discover new feelings, sleeping in the same bed.

Plot Keywords:

Gay Character | Working Class | Bare Butt | Male Rear Nudity | Gay Lead Character

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Linda Henry	...	Sandra Gangel
Meera Syal	...	Miss Chauhan
Glen Berry	...	Jamie Gangel
Martin Walsh	...	Mr. Bennett
Steven M. Martin	...	Ryan McBride
Scott Neal	...	Ste Pearce
Tameka Empson	...	Leah Russell
Andrew Fraser	...	Jayson
Ben Daniels	...	Tony
John Savage	...	Lenny
Julie Smith	...	Gina
Jeillo Edwards	...	Rose
Anna Karen	...	Marlene
Garry Cooper	...	Ronnie Pearce
Daniel Bowers	...	Trevor Pearce

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, pervasive strong language and some drug content.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Singapore:(Banned) | Australia:MA | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Anchor Pub, Rotherhithe, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

The rainbow depicted early in the movie foreshadows to the nature of the movie. The gay community associates itself with the rainbow.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the party, Leah is holding an object in her hand. If you look closely, you notice that the larger white end is in her hand with the gray thin end on top. When the shot is zoomed out, you can tell it's now upside down with Leah holding the gray thin end in her hand.

Quotes:

Leah: Don't suppose you've got any jobs in your new pub?
Sandra: No. But if I ever do turn it into a brothel I'll get back to you, ok?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Schau mir in die Augen, Kleiner (2007)

Soundtrack:

Creeque alley

Extremely Moving

A wonderful story of gay teenagers that is ideal for parents to show their children; so that they understand that gay people may be different, but not bad. Faithful to the play, great music score and gives a real feeling of English tenements.