Hallam Foe

Jamie Bell is certainly one of the best young actors working today. Since his breakout in Billy Elliot 9 years ago, which won him a BAFTA at the age of 14, he has gone on to star in 9 films. The three big projects, a Peter Jackson remake, Clint Eastwood war film and a Doug Liman sci-fi film are all interesting choices, even if I'm not a fan of any of them. His smaller, independent choices seem similarly thoughtful, even if some are more successful than others. Undertow is probably the best film on his resume, aside from that breakout debut and I though it a very decent effort. Indeed my colleague rates the film considerably higher than that and Bell, and the film, land on his 2004 year end list.

Bell's latest film sees him star as the title character in Hallam Foe, who lives in a tree-house, wears his dead mother's make-up and clothes and demonstrates difficulty or an unwillingness to accept the that his mother has gone, and that his father is engaged with to a much younger woman. Hallam also has problems with social interaction although one suspects these were present before his mother died.

This is a coming of age story that features a main character with a clear past (credit to screenwriter David Mackenzie), and exhibits quirks not just for the sake of being quirky, but for believable and sometimes touching reasons. Very few young actors can boast the feat of being able to carry a film single-handedly. Bell is one of them and he has again proved it here.

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