Get Real

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Get Real

R

1999

1h 48m

Comedy

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

47 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Steven (Ben Silverstone) spends his school days longing for all-star athlete John (Brad Gorton). But John has a gorgeous girlfriend, and Steven is still in the closet about being gay. The only one who knows the teenager's secret is his friend Linda (Charlotte Brittain). After a curious run-in with John in a public restroom, Steven starts to wonder if the jock is straight after all. When they start a romance, it threatens to expose the truth about both of them.

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Critics Consensus

An authentic portrayal of homosexuality in high school, Get Real is an engaging dramedy that doesn't sermonize its audience nor trivialize its characters.

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David Edelstein

Slate

Jul 24, 2007

The strength of this agreeable comedy, directed by Simon Shore from a screenplay by Patrick Wilde, is that it makes even the tiniest sexual encounters seem emotionally momentous.

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Derek Elley

Variety

Jul 24, 2007

Fresh, funny and thoroughly engaging.

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Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

Jul 24, 2007

An issue movie, a comedy, and a love story, this is pretty good at being all three.

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Jim Lane

Sacramento News & Review

Aug 7, 2008

3/5

Sandra Contreras

TV Guide

Jul 24, 2007

2.5/4

Simon Shore's feature directing debut displays considerable confidence and aplomb. But his fairly hackneyed sense of storytelling seems to value accessibility above complexity, so don't expect any surprises.

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Carlos N

@Can545 Jul 18, 2026

Completely authentic and heartbreaking. I wish it had a better ending but I felt for the characters and wished they could have figured things out in a more healthy way. These things today are commonplace but it was the late 90s in high school. These types of issues in the 80s were probably worse and so on backwards in time. I can only hope today the pain of kids in school is non existent if they are gay.

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Garry A

@heavyg May 23, 2025

I was surprised how good this was for a late 90s coming out/coming of age movie. The running time was the average 2 hours (back then) but would have benefited from more editing to get it under 90 minutes.

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Jens B

@Jens97 Jan 11, 2024

Discovered this one in my DVD collection and was surprised by how funny, charming, and heartfelt this was. I wish I was like Steven in high School and I would love to spend more time with Steven, his neighbor, and his mom!

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Apr 2, 2018

I hadn't heard of this until a couple of days ago. It's a cracking film but brought back some decidedly un-cracking memories. Well worth watching.

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Aug 10, 2016

Get Real is a excellent portrayal of homosexuality in high school. This is a dramedy that is both engaging, and memorable.

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Apr 2, 2016

A closeted gay teen falls into a romantic relationship with a popular jock who is afraid to even openly admit that they are friends. A pretty decent coming-of-age story from England.

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Simon Shore

Director

Ben Silverstone

Steven Carter

Brad Gorton

John Dixon

Charlotte Brittain

Linda

Stacy Hart

Jessica

Kate McEnery

Wendy

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Synopsis

Steven (Ben Silverstone) spends his school days longing for all-star athlete John (Brad Gorton). But John has a gorgeous girlfriend, and Steven is still in the closet about being gay. The only one who knows the teenager's secret is his friend Linda (Charlotte Brittain). After a curious run-in with John in a public restroom, Steven starts to wonder if the jock is straight after all. When they start a romance, it threatens to expose the truth about both of them.

Director: Simon Shore
Producer: Stephen Taylor
Screenwriter: Patrick Wilde
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Distant Horizon
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 30, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.2M
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround

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