Jamie is portrayed as an outsider of sorts. He doesn't fit in and yet doesn't understand why. Like most youth, he's clueless about who he is and what he wants out of life. The other boys sense something wrong about him and pick on him all the time. He retreats to his small apt, shared with his waitress mother, and is sometimes protected by Ste, who sympathizes with Jamie but it's never quite clear why. The apartment complex also has a goofy black girl living beside him, Lean, who adds color to the complex that goes far beyond the tone of her skin. She was kicked out of school and envisions herself as a diva like her idol, singer Mama Cass.

For the most part, the lead males here were not very interesting to me. Gay or straight, they were almost generically written and portrayed. Someone with even a passing knowledge of gays would probably have written them better. Sure, they are not in a societally sanctioned relationship and that causes all the usual problems. If low income cities in England are anything like they are here, the guys would be beat up, goofed on, and otherwise shunned as sick, weird, or morally twisted. The story could've put Jamie in a relationship with the black girl and it would have seemed identical in how they were treated. In short, by bucking societal norms, they force their hands onto those around them and the results are what we get to see.

Luckily, Jamie's mother seemed much more realistic in how she treated the couple. She cared about her son and wanted the best for him. By being supportive, she gives him the freedom to be himself, no matter what the rest of the Universe says about it. Her character isn't the same old mom that acts like the world has ended when she finds out or tries to talk him out of his preference. I suspect the writer knows someone like this as she was very different from the typical "mom of gay son" seen in movies.

On a related note, Leah's character seemed much deeper than the guys here. Her inner demons drive her to imitate her singer idol in such a way that it made me wonder why she did so. To some extent, it was left open to personal interpretation but you also see that it drives the central theme about wanting to belong to a larger group, yet on your own terms, far more readily than the focal point of the two males ever does. As I watched the movie, I wondered more than once why it couldn't have been about Leah's soul searching than about the two guys finding true love. She was quirky, but perhaps the best thing about the movie in terms of her character and performance.

Okay, to sum it up as best I can. The main story was a barebones love story that just happened to center on two young males. I'm sure that gays everywhere will like it for that alone. The people around the two young men, mainly the women, and their reaction towards the guys was what made this worth renting. That's what makes it interesting for those of us who aren't gay and accessible to a larger audience.

Picture: The picture was presented in it's original 1.85:1 ratio Anamorphic widescreen and looked okay. There were some compression artifacts at times and the fleshtones were not always quite right (a few scenes). The blacks weren't always true black and the picture lacked the detail you'd find in a bigger budget movie (there was a bit more grain than I prefer too).

Sound: The sound was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo and displayed a bit of depth but little separation between the channels. The dialogue was clear at all times and the music was interesting. Most of the sound came out of the center channel so don't use this as a reference dvd to display the sound.

Extras: 3 trailers

Final Thoughts: I'm sure all the professional critics loved this one given the blurps on the dvd box but aside from a couple of supporting characters, it was pretty bland. The picture wasn't what I'd hoped for and the extras were all but nonexistent but it wasn't bad-just not really as outstanding as some would have you believe. I can't help but wonder if the characters were straight, would the praise have been as forthcoming? I doubt it very much. Worth a rental to fans of coming of age movies, if the subject matter doesn't bother them, and maybe higher depending what your particular tastes are.