The Worst Film Ever

Excellent but underrated film

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Sure, Culture Club were a pleasantly colourful English pop group from the wacky pastel-and-frills, gender-bending pop scene of the early 180s. I'm not a fan, although they did have a catchy song or two and an amusingly cute line with the press regarding sex, drugs and other facets of fame. However, I am an historian and an appreciator of bio-flicks, and this one does no-one any favours. Much of the movie's tiny budget seems to have been spent on costumes and makeup, and of course no-one goes outside for any length of time lest viewers catch sight of something which is not of the early 1980s. Also, I never knew that the interior of the famous Blitz club resembled someone's rather shabby living-room. Nor did I realise that the patrons were exactly the same every night or that they didn't seem to change their clothes. Unless of course the director simply filmed all of the scenes set at Blitz in one go to save money and time. There are virtually no contemporary period 1980s pop-songs, undoubtedly because the movie makers couldn't afford them. Instead there are cheesy 'approximations' of the likes of Duran Duran and New Order, along with much bland, anonymous 'techno' filler. George's brush with Malcom McLaren and Bow Wow Wow (ironically a band with a much more interesting story) is told, amid a confusing screenplay which makes much of confusing flash-backs and flash-forwards. Plus the time-period under consideration ends at 1987, so don't expect to see The (aged, balding) former Boy sweeping the streets to pay his debts to society. Okay, the acting is actually pretty good but sadly the movie is just another conspicuously cheap TV-movie styled bio-pic. And by the way, if you're waiting for Culture Club to form and start playing already, be prepared to sit it out until the very end and an incomplete, horribly-mimed rendition of 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?'

To the mainstream, Boy George appeared from left-field, a chart-topping male pop-star who dressed like a woman. Yet George was not just a freak show; he emerged from the androgyny of the New Romantic club scene, even if few had attempted such an extreme look before; his band made records of genuine merit; and of course, in a period where homosexuality was still not as widely accepted as it is now, it was not just for its aesthetic qualities that his dress sense attracted attention. Julian Jarold's film, 'Worried About the Boy', gives a good feeling of what it was like for George prior to fame, finding his way through a world in which he always possessed a measure of star quality; although I don't recall George ever looking quite as naturally feminine as actor Douglas Booth. What the film lacks is a certain narrative purpose: George got dressed up, had relationships, formed bands and eventually made it onto 'Top of the Pops'; 'Worried About the Boy' explains how, but the problem with many real-life dramatisations is that they essentially amount to "stuff happens" and I felt something of the same here. There are hints of a bigger story in the relationship of George and Kirk Brandon; but you need to know what happened later to understand these. And the film is also guilty of some obviousness; when George visits Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols appear on the soundtrack, even though the period is wrong. In spite of this, I still enjoyed the film, an interesting view of an unlikely road to fame.

The above quote from George about what the result is 'when straight men write about poofs'... true! It is camped up to the nines which was a bit unnecessary I thought. Douglas Booth is very pretty - great lips - and I thought he did well for a 17 year old & with a questionable script. The Marilyn portrayal was a bit dodgy, nowhere near similar in looks & far too nicey nicey but the Malcolm McClaren was very believable. Soundtrack great - make-up great. I definitely think they should have gone the whole hog & made the programme longer - the ending was just an odd place to stop, covering nothing of Culture Club's reign... a vision of a smacked up George circa '86 with little insight as to why; the antics on their world tours were worthy of inclusion if you ask me. Great just to stick on for a bit of background telly but do read 'Take it like a Man' if you haven't already.

*Possible Spoilers* I watched this and it was AMAZING. Full of everything a television programme could need; angst, comedy, romance, honest truths...the list goes on! The acting is incredibly good, and always believable. Though it was all wonderful, my personal favourite parts were the cute and subtle bits of romance. In parts, it made me 'aww' audibly! Douglas Booth, who played George, looks an incredibly amount like him. A perfectly chosen actor, there in my opinion. And, as an added bonus, he's absolutely gorgeous! The only low part for me, was that the lip-syncing of the songs was rather bad. The mouths move to the right words, but it doesn't look like he's actually singing it. But this is merely a small thing, and hardly really detracts from how wonderful the whole thing was. I would highly recommend watching/buying this. A brilliant piece of drama! Douglas Booth is definitely a star in the making! Look out for him in the future!