Billy Boy

This is a story about horrible people doing horrible things to people around them that deserve better. While the performances are good, the whole storyline is just miserable and jumps back and forth in the timberline far too much. There are times that I like a gritty realistic story, but this movie is like spending the night at a juvenile detention center. Melissa Benoist was the only slight ray of sunshine in this entire disjointed, dark, dismal story. Pretty much everyone other character is a horrible person. Even the main character Billy. Just when you think he's going to turn things around and show some integrity, he turns out to be just as awful and disappointing as you suspected. If you're looking for a "feel-good" movie, this is the complete opposite of that.

I actually enjoyed the film, a lot of sex and romance that doesn't really hold with the total message of the movie and the girlfriend that the main character has doesn't really help with that (but my personal preference with movies is that it doesn't have too many romantic scenes so this is just coming from me) I really liked it but there was a lot of jumping and flashbacks which kind of reminded me of "we need to talk about Kevin" but the difference is that this movie and that movie is that this movie doesn't give me a headache. In MY opinion there was some pretty good acting in the movie and the movie tries it's best to be cinema graphic in some moments but it comes off as kind of unnatural but not a bad movie at all.

The timeline just jumps all over the place with no clue if its past or present. With the bad acting it is also annoying. The kid gets beat by his friend but all his fights are with everyone else, He unstable, has no guts and makes bad decisions, I guess that makes a character if the timeline was stable at least.

I had been very interested in this film since it's announcement on Kickstart. A huge fan of Ms. Benoist, I wanted to see her in a story out of her normal realm of features. I wasn't dissapointed. This film is gritty and I found it easy to connect with the characters and their situations both good and bad. The ending was done quite well and unlike most Indie's doesn't leave you guessing as to the cause and effect of the character's actions.I found myself hoping for Billy to climb out of the situation(s) he found himself in. I watched it in a theater and later shared with friends from home. One film I will long remember. Good Job!!!!!

Billy Boy is not an easy movie to watch and is certainly not going to appeal to everyone. This is not a Hollywood film , Hollywood would have turned this into some fake story about a bad boy with a heart of gold who gets the girl in the end. Horribly realistic, this is a movie with gritty and raw performances, especially from the talented lead who also wrote the film, but everyone is excellent in their role. The locations are perfect, the characters true to life. I don't love the use of playing the film backwards in some scenes, and the film does rely on the use now of telling the story out of order, but in this case it works. I have seen this movie a few times and will never understand it's poor rating and reviews. It really is a little gem if you like your stories personal and ugly. I think it's the sheer ugliness of the characters , story and ending that are turning viewers off, but it's a great film.