OK, so don't laugh when you hear the movie I'm recommending to the general public. I have to admit that when I went to the movie store last weekend looking for a good chick-flick to watch with my roommates, Billy Elliot was not what I had in mind.

In fact, the only reason I rented it was because it's really hard to find popular new releases late on a Friday night -- they're already checked out.

But what I did get besides a few "Why did you get that?"'s and laughs from my roommates was a great movie.

Billy Elliot is an absolutely hilarious and fabulous film. It's about this little British boy who is encouraged to be a boxer, when all he really wants to do is dance. Not only does he want to dance, but he wants to dance the most stereotypically feminine kind of dance -- ballet.

Billy comes from a family in which his mother has passed away and his father and older brother are very manly miners, currently striking against the coal mining industry in order to get better wages and working conditions. His brother and father are both as passionate about their cause as Billy is about dancing.

However, Billy has to keep his dancing a secret from his family because they wouldn't be very understanding of his newest hobby. But when the rest of his family and neighborhood do discover his secret, the movie gets funnier. But I don't want to ruin it for potential renters of this movie.

While as a woman I found this movie to be cute and sentimental, I don't think my gender is the only one that will find this movie entertaining. In fact, I believe many men will like it and find it far more amusing than I did. Come on, let's face it, I bet there're a lot of you men out there who have been caught doing pirouettes in front of the mirror.

The dancing in this movie is great, as are the characters. I mean, the audience loves to relate to this bunch of out-there people. The father comes off as hard, but by the end of the movie the audience realizes how soft and caring he really is. Same goes for the brother.

This movie dismisses many stereotypes everyone faces in today's society. Not only that, but the movie does it in a light, humorous manner that makes it more pleasing to the eye and ear.

You can't help but like this movie, Billy is a cute kid who is easy to watch. We feel for him as the underdog the entire movie and we wait for his triumph. We want him to dance and be accepted for his love and talent for the ballet.

This movie is much better than any chick-flick I could have pulled off the shelves at the movie store. I guess I got lucky.