Worried About the Boy, BBC Two

Worried About the Boy, BBC Two | reviews, news & interviews

Worried About the Boy, BBC Two

A fresh approach to the rock biopic which ends where these stories usually begin

by Howard MaleSunday, 16 May 2010

Do they really want to hurt him? Douglas Booth as Boy George in 'Worried about the Boy'

“Just drop the wisecracks for one minute, will you!” snaps George Alan O'Dowd’s father, played with craggy authority by Francis Magee. And he has a point. The snide remarks and oh-so-gay repartee come so thick and fast in this BBC drama that it is hard to see writer Tony Basgallop’s screenplay as a realistic recreation of the world of Steve Strange, Marilyn, Culture Club drummer Jon Moss and our George. When this waspish crowd fire coruscating dialogue at one another it's as if they are channelling Quentin Crisp, Oscar Wilde, Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams.

After one of these punch-ups, George is self-possessed enough to say, “How’s it feel to have your arse kicked by a fairy?”

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