Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

ptomley47 IMDB gave this film a good rating and sounded interesting so I thought OK give it a go. I couldn't turn away, the acting was phenomenal. A 'small' film with unknown actors but beautifully done and acted. Anywhere else it would have been turgid and unbelievable but i loved everyone,everyone makes this film shine. The actors maintain the believabiility the sensitivity and innocence of their characters It's a shame its taken 20 years to discover this gem of a film. Anyone who would like to enjoy a romantic film whether they are straight or gay can't help but admire these actors

Funasian2005 Considering it's done in 1998, it's quite a touching and realistic coming of age movie. I have seen many coming of age movies and they all suck big time, this low budget movie is well directed and touching.It's a little dated but still watchable.5/10

Mark Dunlap I'm writing this review more than a dozen years after I first saw "Get Real," and it is still my favorite movie ever. I've never seen any other movie that seemed so downright profound.The movie affected me on two levels: it's a very touching romance with an ending that is so very sad; I often want to re-write the ending so that these guys can and will stay together. I find it totally believable that Steven and John would fall in love with one another, and I believe it every time they express their love to each other. One of the most romantic, albeit brief, moments is when John invites Steven to "come live with me." But the romantic story has such a sad ending; surely there has to be a way for Steven to forgive John for the violence that John inflicted in the locker room, and forgiveness CAN happen if John tells the truth about himself to his parents and friends.That leads me to talk about the other way the movie affects me; the movie conveys, as its implicit moral, how important it is to reveal the truth about yourself to others, to come out. When I saw the movie circa 2001 or so, I found Steven's speech in the assembly hall was utterly inspiring. That speech, and the issues involved in why Steven and John break up, made me decide that I'm going to tell the truth to more people whom I have not previously told the whole truth, that I'm not going to stay closeted from anyone who deserves to know the truth. Indeed, a couple of years after I first saw the movie, I revealed that I'm gay to a room full of straight people, only one of whom already knew it.The tears John is shedding the first night he spends with Steven - the tears that start flowing when he admits to himself that he is gay - are based on two emotions: fear and shame. The fear is that he'll lose the love and support of his parents and he'll lose his status as the school's "Head Boy." But he's also ashamed of just plain being gay. John asks, through tear-filled eyes, as he looks into Steven's eyes, "What's wrong with me?" And in an important scene later, when Steven is angry with John for going out on a date with Christina, John confesses (with sadness in his eyes), "I guess I went out with Christina tonight because I needed to feel good about myself." The most important reason why Steven and John break up at the end is not that John is afraid of being found out, but because of the contrast between Steven's gay pride and John's gay shame. Steven said (the night of John's date with Christina)"I want you to be proud of us, but you're not! You're ashamed to be seen with me!" Even though John then promised to talk to Steven and treat him like a friend while they're in school, that is not what Steven meant by "be proud of us." John can't take any pride in his love for Steven unless and until John gets over the feeling of shame in just being gay.So that is why I fell in love with this movie: it sends profound messages about the meaning of gay pride and in the importance of telling people the truth about yourself. Steven could have spared Jessica some heartache if he had told her, when Jessica gave Steven a kiss, that he's gay, and he would have told her the truth if it weren't for his (implied) promise to John that he was going to keep it a secret. Steven's desire to tell his parents and his classmates the truth about himself started to grow once he and John fell in love. That's when his gay pride began to grow, and it was why he wrote the little essay about what is it like to be a gay teenager.I have only a few complaints about the movie. One is a scene, at about 44 minutes in, that starts with John saying to Steven, "Please, help me. I'm worried; I'm confused," and which culminates in a tender kiss. This scene lasted 6 minutes and I think the director/actors could have trimmed it a little bit, making it 5 minutes instead. That scene has about one minute of monologue by John that seemed unnecessary. And that scene is followed, in terms of when we next see them, by a scene in which Steven says to John "You finished all the bacon yesterday," which means that they've spent an entire weekend together - two consecutive nights, and they've had breakfast together two consecutive mornings - but the whole day in between is missing. I would want to hear what Steven and John talk about the first day they spend an entire day together, a day right after John has finally admitted to himself that he's gay. Finally, I'm disappointed that, in the very last scene of the movie, Steven is smiling and joking as he gets into Linda's car and goes for a drive, as if he got over the grief of his breakup with John almost immediately after it happened. He had just been sniffling and fighting back tears a moment before. He got over a major heartache much too quickly.But a few minor quibbles like that are only worth mentioning because I do love the whole movie so much. I even think a lot of people who have moral objections to homosexuality and to the concept of gay pride could be touched by this movie.

ste03uk i think its a really good film about 2 young lads - one is totally confused about the way he feels and he's scared to admit it - its a real confidence booster to young gay males who are scared of coming out to people. the acting is great, especially for not very well known film actors - really good film - i'm so angry i didn't see it at the cinemas - going to watch it now - Ben Silverstone was really good playing Steven - especially because he's straight playing a gay character - it gives people an insight to their child's sexuality - not everyone is how you think they are - again - an excellent movie - excellent acting - great storyline - i can watch it over and over again - i don't know why people are a bit disappointed by the ending of it all - its a good way to end it - Steven coming out to the whole school while on stage wen supposed to be receiving an award. i like it that he leaves john after the whole coming out scene - john beat him in the locker room just to make it look like he wasn't 'into' Steven - John was so confused - the best part of the end is when the 'bullies' are bullying Steven and his mum walks behind them - she says something like - 'ill tell you who he is - he's my on and i'm very proud of him - and if you do anything to hurt him i'll err... have your bollocks for ear-rings - its so funny how she says that. think there should b a get real 2 (the sequel) about Stevens love life and how his school react to him being gay. would love to see john grovel as well