Bella and the Boys (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Brian Hill

Writer:

Brian Hill (writer)

Release Date:

15 February 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

13 years after Bella, Martin and Lee were there, the manager of their children's home is retiring and the home being shutdown...

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tom Burke	...	Lee
Freddie Cunliffe	...	Martin
Billie Piper	...	Bella
Emma Aiken	...	Mrs. Rogers
Jane Lapotaire	...	Mrs. Rogers
Lenora Crichlow	...	Stacy
Fraser Ayres	...	Gary
Aml Ameen	...	Terry
Matt Canavan	...	Jason
Terri Dumont	...	Kelly
Billy Seymour	...	Brian
Rebekah Janes	...	Emily
Steven Di Meo	...	Carl
Daniel Hart	...	Tim
Alison Egan	...	Lee's mum

Runtime:

UK:80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Good story with great natural performances

13 years after Bella, Martin and Lee were there, the manager of their children's home is retiring and the home being shutdown. As they meet up together at a reunion/retirement celebration it sparks old memories of their time together at the home. Both Martin and Lee fancy Bella and their relationship are very involved. The reunion brings back memories of their youth as well as truths about what has happened since.

Shown on BBC2 as part of the `taking care' season of programme, this drama is not really trying to make points about the care system but rather using it as a setting for this story. The plot is pretty good, moving seamlessly back and forward from 1990 to the present day while still keeping a strong narrative flow within the film. The story is mostly a story and love of sorts and is involving because the characters are good. Only towards the end did I feel the film tried to cover too much ground in too short at times - with too many loose ends being tied up a little too quickly. Aside from that it does well and is interesting.

The characters are well drawn and realistic for the majority of the film and this is mostly due to the fine performances drawn from the cast. Their dialogue is natural and realistic but their performances really use it well. Cunliffe is understated but plays a good role despite his character being a bit wishy-washy. Burke is good and deals with the changing character and difficult emotions of Lee well, however it is Piper who really impressed me. More famous in the UK for being married to Chris Evans (oh, and once being a pop star) I didn't expect very much from her in the old acting stakes but she does very well. She is natural and forceful in her role and she really drives the film from the middle.

Overall this is a good film that is driven by a character based story that is well scripted apart from a rush job at the end to bring us up to date. The cast do a really good job with the characters to tell a story that it is hard not to get involved in.