BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

wadechurton Sure, Culture Club were a pleasantly colourful English pop group from the wacky pastel-and-frills, gender-bending pop scene of the early 180s. I'm not a fan, although they did have a catchy song or two and an amusingly cute line with the press regarding sex, drugs and other facets of fame. However, I am an historian and an appreciator of bio-flicks, and this one does no-one any favours. Much of the movie's tiny budget seems to have been spent on costumes and makeup, and of course no-one goes outside for any length of time lest viewers catch sight of something which is not of the early 1980s. Also, I never knew that the interior of the famous Blitz club resembled someone's rather shabby living-room. Nor did I realise that the patrons were exactly the same every night or that they didn't seem to change their clothes. Unless of course the director simply filmed all of the scenes set at Blitz in one go to save money and time. There are virtually no contemporary period 1980s pop-songs, undoubtedly because the movie makers couldn't afford them. Instead there are cheesy 'approximations' of the likes of Duran Duran and New Order, along with much bland, anonymous 'techno' filler. George's brush with Malcom McLaren and Bow Wow Wow (ironically a band with a much more interesting story) is told, amid a confusing screenplay which makes much of confusing flash-backs and flash-forwards. Plus the time-period under consideration ends at 1987, so don't expect to see The (aged, balding) former Boy sweeping the streets to pay his debts to society. Okay, the acting is actually pretty good but sadly the movie is just another conspicuously cheap TV-movie styled bio-pic. And by the way, if you're waiting for Culture Club to form and start playing already, be prepared to sit it out until the very end and an incomplete, horribly-mimed rendition of 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?'

busy-bee6363 *Possible Spoilers* I watched this and it was AMAZING. Full of everything a television programme could need; angst, comedy, romance, honest truths...the list goes on! The acting is incredibly good, and always believable. Though it was all wonderful, my personal favourite parts were the cute and subtle bits of romance. In parts, it made me 'aww' audibly! Douglas Booth, who played George, looks an incredibly amount like him. A perfectly chosen actor, there in my opinion. And, as an added bonus, he's absolutely gorgeous! The only low part for me, was that the lip-syncing of the songs was rather bad. The mouths move to the right words, but it doesn't look like he's actually singing it. But this is merely a small thing, and hardly really detracts from how wonderful the whole thing was. I would highly recommend watching/buying this. A brilliant piece of drama! Douglas Booth is definitely a star in the making! Look out for him in the future!

debbiekirk24 The costumes and setting of this drama looked amazing and I could not fault the lead performances, but it was so SLOW. I lasted one hour and the action could have been taken care of in half the time. And sex and drugs and rock and roll are never as interesting to watch as they are to participate in. Boy George's pre-fame antics did not make for interesting viewing.I was never a fan of Boy George but I always thought that he seemed a lovely, intelligent person and thankfully that view has not changed as a result of this drama, but not enough happened to keep my attention. And I don't remember seeing Mark Gatiss at all, unless he was in some effective 'League of Gentlemen' disguise. Did he appear in the first hour that I watched?

The Man The Myth Having only recently read 'Take It Like A Man', Boy George's compelling and brilliantly entertaining autobiography, I was excited by the prospect of this. I've never been a Culture Club or Boy George fan, but I love tales of rock 'n' roll excess and I was happy to find the book did exactly this.This film, however, proved to be a bit of an anti-climax. Whilst everything appeared to be accurately depicted and the era authentically portrayed, the problem was that it stopped just as things were getting interesting. The book really came into its own once Boy George and Culture Club found fame but film stops dead at this point, with the exception of a few flash-forwards to 1986 when George was engulfed in controversy and smack addiction. I appreciate what went on before is relevant but what was shown in the film should have been condensed down, allowing the majority of it to focus on what happened thereafter. But I guess that ultimately wasn't the point.I definitely think George's fame, popularity and infamously colourful life warrants a screen adaptation, but merely giving us an insight into what went on beforehand makes me think this was a missed opportunity.On a slightly more positive note, to hear that the lead was only 17 is astounding and he did a terrific job in what must have been a very challenging role.