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Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Unlike the eccentric yet equally profound "Beautiful Thing", this British romantic drama about gay teens yells a real story about real kids who are for the most part truly believable and almost all likable. The story focuses on one shy kid, the victim of bullies, who gets a crush on the totally likable school jock and makes a surprising discovery. Natural young actors give their all, yet these aren't cardboard cut-outs but flesh and blood young people with secrets and insecurities. Even the parents are filled with multiple dimensions, and while there are some homophobic bullies, they are presented fairly as well.The acting is sublime with the two young leads attractive but not cardboard cookie cut-outs. Their desires are real, and while there is a sequence that presents an obvious carnal knowledge scenario, the way it is presented isn't done for shock, only insinuating a liaison between someone underage and an obviously older man with an obvious secret life. The ending gets truly gripping as the secrets of the supposedly straight jock are threatened with revelation. But even though there are a violent turn of events that aren't in keeping with what had come before, but they make absolute sense. The ending may have you sobbing. If just one out of ten homophobes can see this film and change their tune, then this film has done more than its duty.

Stephen Carter (Ben Silverstone) is 16 and secretly gay. Only his best friend Linda (Charlotte Brittain) knows. He finds out hunky star athlete John Dixon (Brad Gorton) is gay too. They become lovers...but John doesn't want anyone to know and tells Stephen to keep it a secret. Stephen agrees but it's starting to tear him up inside.I saw this THREE times when it played at a small art cinema here (Massachusetts) back in 1998. It attracted a sizable crowd around here (for an R rated gay independent movie). It still works over 10 years later. It's well written and well-acted by the entire cast. Silverstone and Gorton are both str8 in real life but they play gay convincingly. Their kisses are passionate and there's one heart-breaking scene at a dance when they're dancing with their girlfriends and are looking into each others eyes sadly knowing they want to hold each other--but can't. There's nothing loud or explicit here like no nude sex scenes (how it got the R rating is beyond me). It only gets a 9 because there are a few problems. The ending seems really rushed and leaves a few plot streams hanging (mostly dealing with Gorton's character). Brittain is the comic relief and quickly becomes very annoying. These people are supposed to be 16 but it's pretty obvious they're WAY over that age! Lastly the British accents are VERY hard to understand at first. Still--well worth catching. Try to see this letterboxed--the full frame version cuts off a lot of information off the sides so some scenes play very badly--sometimes people are talking to somebody but you can't see who it is!

I cannot say enough about the power of this movie. With my own struggle with my sexuality, as well as the hiding that so many like me are forced into, this movie brought me to tears. There are so many things I wish could be different, both in my life and in how the movie played out, but both are surprisingly pleasant even as they are. I cannot say that this is the greatest piece of cinema ever created, from dialog to production values, many parts of the movie are askew (not to mention the often indecipherable British mumbling!), but it has given me hope that as a gay teenager I will someday find the type of love I am looking for.

This movie is awesome and definitely worth seeing. But you have to take it for what its worth. It IS an independent film. This film is awesome but you need to be in the right mindset and it surly isn't a Disney film. This film has such a wide range of emotions, one minute your happy for the characters and the next your angry. The acting is great and not to mentions the hot lead characters.(Ben has this face that makes your heart melt) The ending is perfect... well its not the Disney ending we all were hoping for but it fits well. You will want to watch this movie over and over again its so great. This is a movie everyone should see!!!