2009. Dir: Scott Hicks. Starring: Clive Owen, Laura Fraser, Emma Booth, George MacKay and Emma Lung. ●●○○○
Watching two films back to back is always a dangerous option. Inevitably one will be better than the other, and the lesser film will therefore seem even more inferior than it actually is. The Boys are Back suffered this weekend in comparison with the far superior Brothers (reviewed yesterday).
This is partly due to some minor similarities in the subject matter of the piece. Both films address the grieving process and how families must build themselves up again following bereavement, however where the pain in Brothers seems both futile and real in The Boys are Back it is hollow and manipulative.
The film is a reworking of Simon Carr's memoir about how he rebuilt his life after the passing of his second wife, and how the family coped using a just say yes strategy to parenting. No doubt the original biograph details the effects of his wife's untimely battle with cancer and introduces us to the dilemmas of single parent families in a slow and measured way. I would like to read it, especially as the adapatation has butchered all the build up. No sooner than Clive Owen's wife picks a little black number to wear to a party she's doubling up with a look of intense concentration. Five minutes and several hospital and home care scenes later we're at the burial and Owen is beginning to cloud his relationship with his mother in law about how to bring up his son.
We are then subjected to a number of cloying scenes with no narrative flow. There's a road trip, some days at school, Owen's son from his first marriage visiting and some frantic juggling of work and family pressures. But you never get a sense that anything happens between these scenes. Sure there must be a point when Owen adopts his just say yes attitude, but we never see it, nor do we explore the reasoning behind it. There's a tentative romance which we only realise it's going to be a tentative romance because the boys respond and later the elder boy (played by George MacKay) makes a life changing decision withou letting the audience in on how he made it.
Does the always say yes system work? We don't know - sure we know that it irritates other mothers, and that the kids respond by trashing the house - but we don't know whether they respect his authority as a parent, or whether they need any structure. We don't know if their hog heaven turns into a literal hog hell, or whether how the dynamic changes over time. We don't even know if there is any attempt to resolve the younger boys periods of depression following his mother's death (he lies down and does nothing for half an hour every day according to Owen, but there's never a hint of counselling or even anything more than a mild curiousity).
It's not a completely dreadful film. Owen does a reasonable job; luckily they kept his character Brtish so he didn't have to fail putting on an Aussie accent. Laura Fraser is also fine as his wife in the early scenes as well as appaering in Owen imagination - God, I know that's a terrible cliche but at least she's not too bad at these points. MacKay also shows some promise.
Grieg Fraser's photography is also quite nice, capturing the beautiful Australia landscape and the closeness of the garden. He especially likes playing with light and water. But this is dull work when compared to his extraordinary efforts in Bright Star.
These pluses combine with the knowledge that at least it's better than Scott Hicks' last 2 films (No Reservations and the truly awful Stephen King adaptation Hearts in Atlantis) to give the film 2 blobs out of five. Saying that if I see a worse film this year I will be very disappointted with myself.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
The Boys are Back
Friday, 22 January 2010
Out this week (22/01/10)
There are a couple of films this week that I fancy seeing, and a couple more look quite good too. If you're in the mood for something less mainstream then I would suggest trying Un Prophète, but the film of the week has to be Jim Sheridan's Brothers with it's superb cast list and worthy heritage.
Armoured
Or Armored if you happen to live in the US. The premise to this thriller is really interesting, revolving around a security van crew who hijack their own van. With a large portion of the second act taking place with one guard getting cold feet and locking himself inside. Interesting cast too - including Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Boys are back
The first of the two films I fancy seeing this week is based on the true tory of Simon Carr, diarist for the Independent (which is my paper of choice). There have been some changes to the story - Australia instead of New Zealand and a sports journalist instead of politics - but the concept of always saying yes as a parent has stayed the same. Should be a good watch.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Brothers
The more starrier picture is Jim Sheridan's remake of Suzanne Bier's Brode. Essentially it's a family drama about the damage of war both to the men who fight it and to their families left behind in the proud tradition of The Best Years of Our Lives and Coming Home. If it comes close to the power of those films it's well worth the ticket price.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
Ninja Assassin
US based martial arts movie starring South Korea's biggest crossover pop star Rain and directed by James V for Vendetta McTeigue.. All about a man turning his back on the ophanage that raised him. Did brisk business in the States, so expect some tills to ring this weekend.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Un Prophète
Just this week Jacques Audiard's powerful prison drama has been listed among the final 9 for the Best Foreign Language Oscar this year, and it's hotly tipped for one of the nominations. It concentrates on a young Arab man (Tahar Rahim) forced to compromise his morals and his ideas whilst inside.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Veer
Hindi movie set during the 1800's and described as an epic love story of a warrior. Extremely bombastic trailer with some ananchronistic costuming and dastardly British supporting roles.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Tuesday Trailers - The Boys are Back
When I first heard about this one I was pretty "meh!". After all it's a film about fatherhood from the treacle master Scott "Hearts in Atlantis" Hicks. Two things changed my mind. The first was the realisation that the film is based on the experiences of Independent columnist Simon Carr (I'm a keen reader of his), and the second was the trailer which actually looks quite fun.
The Boys are Back is released on 22 January 2010.
