Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38450 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-12-03
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A grim, gritty South London housing estate makes an unlikley setting for a romantic fairy-tale, but Hetti MacDonald's gay teenage love story all but brings it off. Adapted by screenwriter Jonathan Harvey from his own stage play, Beautiful Thing tells how teenage loner Jamie falls for next-door neighbour Ste, one of the tough kids who bullies him at school. Amazingly, he finds his feelings reciprocated, and the two progress to a tender, tentative affair. Sidestepping conventional notions of working-class homophobia, the film succeeds in presenting its central relationship not as anything startlingly different, but simply as a teenage romance--with all the joy and heartbreak it implies--that happens to be between two 15-year-old guys. Problems of brutality and deprivation are acknowledged but never allowed to dominate, and under the influence of love even the harsh walkways and terraces of the estate take on a sunlit glow. --Philip Kemp

Video Description
DVD Special Features: Interactive menus
Scene Index
Theatrical Trailer
Biographies

Language: English, Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English for the hard of hearing
Video aspect ratio: Feature - 16:9 Anamorphic

Synopsis
The offbeat, underachieving denizens of a southeast London apartment building get an emotional wake-up call when two of the neighbors--two teen boys--unexpectedly fall in love. Tender-hearted kitchen-sink realism from Channel Four Films, adapted from the play by Jonathan Harvey.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
I love this film. The acting is very good,and very realistic.
This film is about two teenagers Ste and Jamie, Ste is having problems at home with his abusive father and brother, and is scared to put a foot out of line. Jamie gets bullied at school and has got home problems as well with his mum dating a younger hippy man. Ste and Jamie live next door to each other and their friend Leah lives near them she is obsessed with Mama Cass and plays her muisc loud enough to wake the dead. After seeking refuge at Jamie's house, Ste sleeps head to toe with Jamie. They soon fall for each other. This film has beautiful scenes and Ste and Jamie are just lovable characters. They potray teenage life in London excellently. I would recommened this film to anyone.

A little gem
Measured against most normal criteria, this isn't a five-star film, and yet I couldn't give it anything less. Yes, it's shot on a TV-production budget and some of the acting and script are a little awkward at times but it's such a charming, engaging and uplifting tale that you're smiling by the time the credits role. I'm trying not to use the word 'sweet' but that's exactly what it is, and no worse off for it. It's not a landmark film in British gay or social history but who cares?! For anyone who remembers (or is experiencing) what it is like to begin to come to terms with having 'different' feelings to your mates and those tentative first steps towards self-expression, this will strike a chord. When this was made, I was living only a couple of miles from Thamesmead (where Beautiful Thing is superbly filmed) and going through similar emotions to these two lads. While the film probably doesn't stand up to too many repeated viewings, it will stay with me as a recollection of the experiences of that blazing hot South London summer, and I don't think I can say fairer than that!

My Review Of "Beautiful Thing" - Such A Heart Melter!
This has GOT to be by FAR the absolute best gay film I have seen yet! With the coming of age of the 2 lads Jamie (Glen Berry) & ste. (Scott Neal) I was a bit reluctant to buy it at first because I wanted something with a more stronger storyline & more dedicated actors willing to engage in more intimate scenes, but to my surprise (after my mood had changed) I was so delighted when I sat and watched it for the first time, only to have my heart melted from such great acting by the 2 lads.
A GREAT BIG 'WELL DONE!!' to both of them. You certainly got my vote!

In spite of not being as long a film as I'd hoped for, I give this film 10 stars.

My 2 favourite scenes are : 'Peppermint Foot Lotion' & 'The Woods/Forest Chase' which concludes with the 2 lads well & truly, romantically bonded!. (just like 2 peas in a pod)

I can't say I'm a big Mama Cass fan, but after watching the film about several times over by now, all her tracks from the film keep ringing in my head, like music to my ears.

What a very pleasant experience that was.