Billy Liar

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 ****

Billy Liar John Schlesinger's excellent British comedy-drama concerns Billy (Tom Courtenay), a middle class young man who despises his position as a funeral parlor bookkeeper. Billy spends the majority of his time daydreaming of a much more interesting life filled with conquests, esp. of women. He'd love to quit his dead-end job and become a writer, but when the opportunity arrives, is he too content living in his head and telling lies to embellish his otherwise mundane existence? Too afraid to realize his dreams? This quirky slice-of-life is thematically similar to Le Distrait (The Daydreamer), a 1975 French release with an entirely different conclusion. A young, glowing Julie Christie appears briefly in Billy Liar, injecting color, life, and hope into Billy's dreary, black and white existence. Highly recommended. -- David Ross Smith