CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

zofos This film and its sequel "Stardust" are really a thinly-disguised version of John Lennon's rise to stardom with "The Beatles." It stars 1970s British heartthrob David Essex as Jim MacClaine, but this first film in the series is desperately slow and repetitive. It involves Essex going from one dead-end job to another, getting laid again and again and again with various anonymous girls.He goes from dropping out of school and being a deckchair attendant to working in a holiday camp (where he befriends a surprisingly sleazy Ringo Starr) to finally working in a fairground.David Essex has the looks of a movie star, but not the charisma or acting talent. He's a bit wooden at times and he hardly sings at all, which is where his real talent lies.The film does capture the grimness of post-war 1950s Britain well and there is some commentary on class, but the script has no structure whatsoever. It's as aimless as its hero.The sex scenes are quite graphic and there is a morally dubious scene where Essex forces himself on an underage girl (Ringo asks Essex if he's been "gardening" again from the grass stains on his trousers afterwards).There are many cameos from real pop stars. From the aforementioned Ringo Starr, we also have another famous drummer in Keith Moon from "The Who" (he was the music supervisor on the film) and Billy Fury.Many future stars of British television are also visible here in supporting roles. Robert Lindsay, of "My Family" and "Citizen Smith" fame, appears as the best friend of David Essex and he's a constant reminder of what the Essex character could have become if he had gone on to college like him. Karl Howman is also here and in the sequel, he would go on to star in "Brush Strokes" and the series of "Flash" floor-cleaner TV commercials that seems to have become his career of late.The sequel is a big improvement as things actually start happening, although it is still a clichéd rock star's rise-and-fall story with conmen managers, hangers-on and drug abuse thrown in for good measure.I wouldn't recommend wasting your time watching this. Turner Classic Movies described this as a "superb movie." I would strongly disagree with that. I found it extremely boring. It moves at a snail's pace.I was surprised to see the name of renowned producer David Puttnam in the credits. He must have been just learning his trade and probably didn't know what he was doing. He would go on to produce far better movies like the Oscar-winning "The Killing Fields" and "Midnight Express." The film makes several strange references to John Wayne. From Wayne's "That'll Be The Day" line from "The Searchers" (it also inspired a Buddy Holly song) being the title of the film, to name of the David Essex character being taken from Wayne's "Big Jim McClain" movie, albeit with a different spelling.

Woodyanders Set in a plausibly dreary and defiantly anti-nostalgic late 50's era Britian, this grimly serious kitchen sink drama relates the turbulent up and down tale of one Jim MacLaine (superbly played by David Essex of "Rock On" fame), a discontent working class bloke who wants to be a rock star so he can successfully transcend the dismally unrewarding banality of plain old normal bourgeoisie existence and live a free, spontaneous, not attached to any heavy responsibility life. Jim drops out of school and moves out of his mother's house. He winds up going nowhere slowly, selling beach chairs on the arid shore in order to scrape by, until a shrewd smoothie busboy (Ringo Starr in a surprisingly excellent performance) takes the shy, naive Jim under his wing and teaches the heretofore sweet, guileless lad the fine art of picking up girls and gypping patrons at the local carnival of their spare change. Pretty soon Jim degenerates into a cold, heartless womanizing cad who's incapable of commitment and, as long as he refuses to settle down, just a few steps away from the fame he seeks.Loosely based on John Lennon's actual early exploits, with an outstanding golden oldies soundtrack and a rough, seedy, marvelously unglamorous and unromanticized depiction of the 50's, "That'll Be the Day" offers an engrossingly seamy and minutely detailed evocation of drab blue collar life, chiefly centering on the pertinent role rock music plays in serving as an outlet for overcoming the horrid ordinariness of said average lifestyle. Claude Whatham's astutely observant direction delivers a striking wealth of piquant incidental touches -- the ghastly shabbiness of Jim's cheap apartment, the faulty, out-of-tune speakers at a rundown dance hall, the grungy sleaziness of the fairground Jim works at, an incredibly cheerless wedding reception -- which in turn brings a splendidly gritty, lived-in conviction to Ray Connelly's meticulous, unsparingly downbeat script. Moreover, the acting is uniformly top-notch (Essex's finely underplayed characterization is especially strong), with commendable work turned in by Rosemary Leach as Jim's doting, concerned mother, James Booth as Jim's restless and unreliable absentee deadbeat dad, and Billy Fury as hotshot lounge singer extraordinaire Stormy Tempest. A sterling cinematic testament to rock music's undying allure and magical ability to create hope in an otherwise bleak and thankless world.

Callum Gee A very enjoyable piece of good ol' British cinema at it's best with a mighty fine cast, story and soundtrack.David Essex in his first big screen role portrays delinquent Jim Maclaine who holds a deep passion for Rock 'n' Roll music and a care-free lifestyle in 1950's England. After he drops out of school and heads to the seaside he eventually ends up working in a holiday camp where he experiences the many temptations on offer to him including girls...and more girls...as well as soaking up the sounds of the time.Jim, along with his friend Mike (Ringo Starr), heads for all the fun of the Fair - literally. Unfortunately, things go somewhat awry for Mike as he is badly beaten-up by some local thugs and Jim can only watch helplessly. Soon after, the boss of the Fairground offers Jim the prestige position of working one of the main ride attractions of the fair, but a meeting with old school friend Terry (Robert Lindsay) and an encounter with a young Mother suddenly make Jim question his current lifestyle.Things are about to change for Jim as the prospect of family life beckons, but his passion for music still shines bright within him and he is now faced with a terrible dilemma in his life.The end of the 1950's sets the scene beautifully for this film's thoroughly insightful sequel not to be missed, which is a very rare example of a second movie being just as good, if not better, than the original.Do not miss the continuing story of Jim Maclaine in "Stardust"...'Look what they've done to the Rock 'n' Roll clown...'

Lee Eisenberg Probably the best portrayal of the '50s rebel culture has working-class Brit Jim MacLaine (David Essex) with a chip on his shoulder - due to his father abandoning the family - and doesn't care about school; he's into rock 'n' roll. His friend Mike (Ringo Starr) is no more responsible but gets Jim some jobs. But after everything, Jim sees fit only - and I mean ONLY - to play music.Aside from the fact that this was a really good movie, I should identify that there was a sequel called "Stardust". I've never seen that one, as it's never been released on DVD. WHY NOT?! Considering how good this one was, why can't the latter get released on DVD?!