Billy's like a lot of us. In Tom Courtenay's career best performance he plays a man/boy of special talent and very ordinary limitations. In the tradition of the "angry young man" mindset prevalent in '6os British drama, the movie, in its involvingly naturalistic rhythms, goes beyond those limitations and is a genuinely smart and fun portrayal of someone who will never be what he could be. Its fantasy sequences are deservedly heralded but it's even better in its odd, small moments -- Billy playing blind with his buddy crossing a street, dictating his future plans into his boss' tape recorder, burying his head in his hands as a tune he actually wrote plays at a local dance; Billy is forced by circumstance, and his own shortcomings, to live a life he knows he's going to escape -- and won't. And Julie Christie is not only the girl every guy will fall in love with but she's also the one who proves to be Billy's impossible dream -- the twist is, she's heartbreakingly real -- she's right there and instead... Billy goes for the fantasy. Awful and real. Director John Schhlesniger's best; beautifully shot in black and white and scored with offbeat songs and music. It stays with you.
Review of Billy Liar
