Themes: Questioning Sexuality, Misfits and Outsiders, Small-Town Life
Main Cast: Andrew Paterson, Harriet Beattie, Jay Collins, Michael Dorman, Rima Te Wiata
Release Year: 2005
Country: NZ
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
A boy has to decide just how far he's willing to go to maintain a new friendship in this offbeat coming of age-drama. Billy (Andrew Paterson) is a 12-year-old boy growing up in a farming community in New Zealand in the '70s. Billy's slight weight problem, his flamboyant personality, and his fondness for costume play has made him a target for bullies at his one-room school, and his only friend is Lou (Harriet Beattie), his tomboy cousin who prefers to play football with the boys and is dreading the onset of adolescence. As Billy resigns himself to his status as an outcast, he's assigned a new deskmate -- a new arrival in town named Roy (Jay Collins). Roy is a few years older than Billy, and takes an immediate liking to him; however, while Billy is a bit fuzzy about the practicalities of being gay (something he's accused of on a regular basis), Roy seems to have a good bit of practical knowledge of the subject and seems keen on pursuing a physical relationship with his new pal. As Billy is torn between happiness at having a new friend and confusion about Roy's level of interest in him, he discovers Roy is also attracted to Jamie (Michael Dorman), who has just hired on to work at the farm owned by Billy's dad. 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous was given its North American premier at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Cast
Andrew Paterson - Billy
Harriet Beattie - Lou
Jay Collins - Roy
Michael Dorman - Jamie
Rima Te Wiata
Georgia McNeil; Ross McKellar; Stephanie McKellar-Smith; George Mason; Michelle O'Brien
Credit
Fiona Edgar - Casting, Jan Saussey - Casting, Kirsty Cameron - Costume Designer, Liz Tan - First Assistant Director, Stewart Main - Director, Peter Roberts - Editor, Peter Scholes - Composer (Music Score), Ken Turner - Production Designer, Simon Raby - Cinematographer, Michele Fantl - Producer, Dick Reade - Sound/Sound Designer, Stewart Main - Screenwriter, Graeme Aitken - Book Author
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous is a 2005New Zealanddrama film directed by Stewart Main and starring Jay Collins and Andrew Patterson. It is based on a novel by Graeme Aitken. The film opened in 2005 to negative reviews and had little success at the New Zealand box office.
The film deals with a young farmer's son named Billy, who does not appreciate his terrestrial life, and instead wishes to explore outer space. As the story develops, Billy struggles with his homosexuality and his changing relationships with those around him.[1]
