Get Real (1998)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Simon Shore

Writers:

Patrick Wilde (play)
Patrick Wilde (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

School's out, so is Steven Carter

Plot:

A tenderly romantic coming-of-age story as two boys in a British school fall in love.

Plot Keywords:

School | Coming Out | Writing Contest | Driving Instructor | Changing Room

Awards:

6 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Ben Silverstone	...	Steven Carter
Brad Gorton	...	John Dixon
Charlotte Brittain	...	Linda
Stacy Hart	...	Jessica (as Stacy A. Hart)
Kate McEnery	...	Wendy
Patrick Nielsen	...	Mark
Tim Harris	...	Kevin
James D. White	...	Dave
James Perkins	...	Young Steve
Nicholas Hunter	...	Young Mark
Jacquetta May	...	Steven's Mother
David Lumsden	...	Steven's Father
David Elliot	...	Glen
Morgan Jones	...	Linda's Brother
Richard Hawley	...	English Teacher

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual content.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | New Zealand:M | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, UK

Company:

Arts Council of England

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene in the school newspaper office, when Mark discovers the anonymous article "Get Real", he reads aloud from the article: "The assumption that your children are heterosexual may be causing them pain." The close-up on the computer screen shows that sentence as: "The assumption that your children are heterosexual may be destroying their lives."

Quotes:

[first lines]
Steven Carter: I came late to sex. I was nearly ten. That's when my friend Mark Watkins told me how babies were made.
Young Steve: Really? Are you sure?
Young Mark: Yeah. Honest. I saw it on one of my dad's videos.
Steven Carter: For over a year after that I thought babies were made when two women tied a man to a bed and covered his willy with ice cream.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Another Gay Movie (2006)

Soundtrack:

Bobby's Girl

A fantastic film which was very close to home.

I have just watched this film as part of Film 4's British Connection. I felt this film was an excellent exploration of homosexuality in the heart of Middle Class Britain. I lived close to the film's location Basingstoke when this was made and am the same age (give or take a year) as the main character, Stephen. Whilst never being as confident in my sexuality as Stephen, I really connected with the story told, his relationship with his parents and the scatter-shot but inadvertently appropriate use of homophobic abuse by the bullies.

Also thought the excellent flashes of dialogue uplifted the film such as "Whenever I see that badge (Head Boy) I wish it were an invitation." Priceless. The performances are almost perfect through out (I was a little unconvinced by Jon the Head Boy to begin with but warmed to him hugely as the film and love story progressed.) The cinematography is suitably understated and this is not the most cinematic film ever shot, which I feel helps with the realism. Some of the symbolism is quite fantastic, especially the closing shot, which I wont spoil.

I found it to be a much more recognisable film for me than Brokeback Mountain, Not to that films detriment, it is a masterpiece but I may feel closer to this because I have regularly been to the Odean in Basingstoke, but have never herded sheep on a snowy mountainside with Jake Gyllenhall.

It is a simple effective narrative about a subject close to my heart and I recommend it highly.