The Boys Are Back (2009) Reviews

• refreshing and amazing, yet...

  teelbee2009-10-10

  Going in, I had utterly no idea of what to expect from this film. My companion didn't even tell me ~what~ movie we were going to see, much less any clues to what it was about. I don't think I've ever walked into a theater with so little idea of what to expect. All I knew was that Clive Owen had a role; but he plays such diverse roles, that gave me no clues. But, I'm sure even those who knew lot more about this movie going in were surprised. The story provides lots of unexpected and unusual moments. I would anticipate the plot would turn one way, and it would find a whole new direction of it's own. It was refreshing to see a movie that didn't try to fit a mold - that has it's own unique view, rather than fitting into a genre. The acting was quite amazing; really wonderful believable performances all around. Main characters and minor characters were so believably portrayed that watching the movie occasionally gave me as sense of being the peeping tom. So those are truly amazing achievements in a movie, especially these days. And yet... "Boys" has aspects of a great movie, but, sadly, it isn't great. The underlying Peter Pan theme was a bit overplayed. It felt as though the director kept whispering in your ear, saying, "Got it? Got it, yet?" The storyline held surprises, drama, tension, and some great comic relief... along with more than a few tediously boring scenes that let the audience fall right out of the movie (enough of the raindrops on windows!). It's always a bad sign when I check my watch during a movie, and I checked my watch way too many times in this one. So, go see it and expect to see something special in it. The specialness is there, even if the movie sometimes dumps you out of the scene and back into your theater seat.

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• A Nutshell Review: The Boys Are Back

  DICK STEEL2010-01-26

  Mention Clive Owen, and chances are you'll think of that suave persona playing no less than roguish characters ranging from secret agents to well, erm, the go-to man if you want things done. Like Jackie Chan in The Spy Next Door, he's about to discover that the biggest challenge of his cinematic career is parenting, and in The Boys Are Back, Owen sheds his larger than life, indestructible spy characters for the role of Dad, and a complicated one too in having to reconnect with two boys from different marriages. Based on the memoirs by Simon Carr, Owen stars as Joe Warr, a British sports news reporter now living in Southern Australia with his wife Katy (Laura Fraser) and son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty). But an unforeseen tragedy forces him to rethink his priorities in life, and figure out just how to cope with bringing up a kid, having no experience when he abandoned his ex-wife and his son Harry (George MacKay) from a previous marriage. So he hatches what he thought was a brilliant plan, and that's to bring Harry to Australia, and together, as a trio, would seek out new adventures in their parent-child relationship, imposing no rules other than to listen to him when commanded should the boys get out of hand. The opening sequence would give rise to a certain expectation of how this film would play out, and little would you guess just what the beach going public was cursing at Joe for. It's this no holds barred growing up adventure that elevates this beyond just another movie with mourning and longing, where the protagonists realize that their unorthodox ways of bonding together, forging strong family ties, is just as easy and fragile as it is to be torn down. Scott Hicks doesn't sugar coat the film with saccharine sweet moments, but instead offers some real pragmatism in what one would expect in a household lacking a woman's touch. And as a male I too abhor household chores unless it's absolutely necessary, so watching how the art direction of the Warr household just brought out that smirk that the filthy pig sty, erm, isn't far off from personal experience. But it's not always just about the boys, as the narrative did offer a sneak peek into another what if moment, where budding romance with Laura (Emma Booth) was suggested at, though smartly worked on in not allowing it to overshadow the examination of the main relationships in the film about a father's attempt to connect with his sons, and them with each other. You'd wish for more given Booth's fine performance as the divorcée giving out all the right signals, only being frustrated that they're not acted upon with some degree of sincerity, with that unfair feeling of always being used. For those familiar with what Clive Owen does best in his cinematic, larger than life personae portrayed on film, this role of Joe Warr would lead you to believe the the actor certainly has dramatic chops for more serious, father roles even. With excellent tracks by Sigur Ros, The Boys Are Back is one film that manages to get under your skin and make you feel very much for the dysfunctional family trying to find its rudder in the confused world they live in.

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• Very Good, but...

  heffay1112009-09-18

  There is much to admire in this film. The acting is superb. In fact it is Oscar worthy, whether from Clive Owen or either of the young actors playing his sons. (I fear the 6 year old will get all the praise, but the 14 year old's performance was simply brilliant and more difficult.) The story is honest, fresh, and touching. This isn't a, "What happens if..." movie. This is not just a true life story, it is a true to life story. You can see that Scott Hicks had one goal, honesty. He succeeds at every level and this is perhaps the most honest film you will ever see. So why did I debate giving this film a 6 or 7 and not an 8 or 9 or 10? Because in this quest for truthfulness, it often fails to satisfy. It is, in many ways, a movie that only asks questions and provides no answers. They did their best to reach inside this story and create a beginning, middle, and end, but the truth is that at the end you are left without any of your needs met. I absolutely did not want Hollywood elements tossed in, but the story is simply incomplete. It is real. And real stories are incomplete. I suppose I want to praise this movie for being brave enough to not satisfy while warning friends, "Look, this is a very good film, but it's focus is honesty even if that means ignoring your needs as an audience." Perhaps over time I will come to see this as brilliant. The characters are often not getting their needs met, and neither does the audience. But how do you recommend someone pay $10 to not have their emotional needs met? At the screening I attended, there was a Q&A with Scott Hicks and Clive Owen. Many people joked about a sequel with their questions, because clearly there could never be a sequel. Even Clive joked about sequel titles. You know what? I believe all the sarcasm about a potential sequel came from the truth that this story is unfinished. So... If you feel like seeing honesty and emotional truth, if you want a break from Hollywood BS, if you want to see a slice of real life without any pretense or falsehood, rush to this movie. And I do hope you enjoy it more than I did because of these warnings.

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• Missed the mark for me

  mmsbk2009-12-13

  I had relatively high hopes for this, a Scott Hicks and with Clive Owen in the lead. And set in South Australia where I live..........but I was ultimately disappointed. Clive Owen seemed to merely get by in the lead role, rarely displaying any complexity of emotion, and on occasion (perhaps the fault of the script? ) displaying none at all , for instance in response to such a fraught question as the older son asking him " but why did you leave ME?" Or when the same son cries in frustration and anger. It's not as if he is convincingly showing a man who is bad a displaying emotion either , it's more like he couldn't be bothered. There is a similar non-response when later the boy tells him that his mother , Owen's ex-wife , hates him ( the son) The young actors were very good indeed, acted Owen off the stage I thought, in the depth they brought to their characters. I do wish, for once , that a movie about a spouse dying could be made featuring an ordinary ,flawed couple, not always these golden blessed types who gaze adoringly at each other and stand silhouetted against perfects sunsets in each others arms. And anyone who has been close to someone dying of cancer will find the diagnosis of advanced virulent cancer with NO symptoms other than a dramatic collapse and , eventually a Camille-like elegant fading away in his arms, ludicrous. Smaller things that annoyed me were how did the kids at the beach party know where to go to gate-crash ? Maybe I missed something. Planes to the UK seem to be easy to hop on to as well, no booking or waiting about ..and as for the older boy's mother taking him to Heathrow airport to fly to Australia when she had had no communication at all from Owen in response to her telling him that the boy was actually coming , yeah, that's likely Lovely scenery, good young actors, but that's about it for me.

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• An unbelievable story

  peter_WMC2010-02-12

  This movie was disappointing. All of the emotions and values seemed rather predictable. The situations the people got into were not realistic. For example the mother in law refused to look after the children when the main character (Owen) had a business trip to make. Just wouldn't happen the way it was portrayed. A bunch of teenagers arrived for a party and wrecked the house, but although there was a teenage son, he was of a different age group than these people who came from nowhere. This was fabricated to create a situation of tension while the main character (Owen) was away on his business trip. Totally unbelievable. The girlfriend refused him when he asked her to look after the kids for a few days. Wouldn't happen. The son couldn't look after his younger brother yet could get himself from Australia to England alone. This was an attempt to make a weepie with a very unbelievable story. Acting was good, story and script not so.

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