Hallam Foe and My Fascination for Jamie Bell

I never expected to have encountered Jamie Bell again. I first saw him in Billy Elliot when he was like eleven years old and I got fascinated with him through his penchant in dancing, and of course his superb acting in that movie, which earned him a BAFTA acting award for Best Actor.

Eleven  years after Billy Elliot landed on big screen and then later on adapted into a Broadway musical, I took interest in watching the movie again.  And thus triggered my interest to even download not only Billy, but some of his films 'coz I find Jamie Bell so endearing.

 Now, I 'm done watching Hallam Foe.

THE STORY: The seventeen year-old Hallam Foe is a weird teenager that misses his mother, who committed suicide, drowning in a lake nearby their house in Edinburgh after an overdose of sleeping pills. Hallam spends his spare time peeping at the locals and blames his stepmother Verity Foe, accusing her of killing his mother. After a discussion with his father Julius Foe, Hallam sneaks out from his house and travels to Edinburgh, where he sees Kate Breck and becomes obsessed with her because of her resemblance to his mother. Kate hires Hallam to work in the kitchen of the hotel where she works and they have a strange romance, while Hallam reaches his maturity the hardest way (www.IMDb.com).





METHINKS: The synopsis and the YouTube comments on the movie compelled me to download this indie flick. Plots with troubled teenagers and coming-of-age stories are so cathartic to me.  This one? Damn, Jamie Bell should do more indie films and expose his ass and his willy.


I'm gonna pick up on the last statement of the synopsis. Indeeed, "Hallam reaches his maturity the hardest way."  Sure, the movie presents a cliche issue most teenagers are going through: revolt against their families and their angst against the world.  What makes Hallam reach his maturity the hardest way? His oedipal demeanor. His spy-like tendencies which brought about by his suspicion of his stepmother being the culprit of his mom's death. But despite his distresses, Hallam still gains his humanity.  I actually love the scene where he drowns his stepmother in the loch but was still able to save her as his conscience gets in its way over his gnawing desire to avenge his mother.


I think Jamie Bell donned the character pretty well.  The disturbing disposition and the subtle twitches of arcaneness is all over Bell's character. Oh, well, he really deserved the award when he won Best Actor (again) at the 2007 Scotland BAFTA Award. But I still love him as Billy Elliot though.


Another Jamie Bell movie to watch: The Eagle