moonspinner55 Review of Billy Liar

Billy Liar (1963)

Moments of joy interspersed with those now-moldy kitchen-sink dramatics...

[5/10 · 25 January 2008]

UK production stars Tom Courtenay in a colorless performance as a member of the British working class who daydreams his way out of the monotony of life; Julie Christie is thoroughly charming as a local girl whose life really is a fairy tale. Adaptation of Keith Waterhouse's novel (which he co-wrote along with Willis Hall, having originally turned the material into a play), this mixture of stuck-in-a-rut reality with flights-of-fancy never quite finds its cinematic niche. The deceptively simple, 'non-flashy' flashy technique used by director John Schlesinger and his editor was quite fashionable for its time-- and consequently very popular abroad--but the picture tends to flag whenever the scenario is purposefully drab (or whenever Christie is not on-screen). Courtenay just isn't interesting enough as a personality to carry this callow conceit, although he gets good support from Finlay Currie and Wilford Pickles. Six BAFTA nominations with no wins. ** from ****