Get Real

In downtown Basingstoke, Steven is suffering the torment of so many 16-year-olds. The one person he wishes he could dance with at the school disco is taken already. Sigh. And sigh again, because Steven is gay, and that special someone is a very straight boy known to everyone in school. Shore's first feature plots a course through sixth form romance and intrigue, bringing Steven's problems to life for an audience which might not necessarily have shared quite the same experiences. The same theme could have served for a tract on the pain and isolation of growing up gay, yet while it never sidesteps the issues, the film (adapted by Patrick Wilde from his play What's Wrong with Angry?) has its eyes more on the John Hughes teen movies of Hollywood yesteryear, complete with bitchy dialogue and a bouncy pop soundtrack. Ben Silverstone as Steven adeptly combines the jaundiced perceptions of an habitual outsider with the reserve of someone who knows that he must never give too much of himself away, while Gorton, his 'friend', shows how sexual confusion bites hard when you're one of the good-at-everything types loved-yet-hated by all and sundry. The film is grounded in genuine emotions and its knowing humour serves it well. I laughed like a drain.