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Bring tissues.
The Boys Are Back is the story of a father (Joe Warr, played by Clive Owen). He has a fine job as a respected sports writer and a sweet little family consisting of his wife Laura (Emma Booth) and six-year-old son, Artie (newcomer Nicholas McAnulty). Joe has friends, a house in a nice little Australian town, and in general, happiness.
Things come crashing down around him when Laura collapses at a dinner party. Her cancer diagnosis and the disease's quick progression leave Joe and Artie alone. Joe isn't living in hotel rooms and eating dinners on expense account any more; he's trying to deal with the role of single parent, trying to deal with the loss of his wife, and trying to form a real connection with a son he realizes he hasn't often seen.
I won't lie to you: the first thirty minutes of this film are ROUGH. Clive Owen and Emma Booth have such a perfect on-screen family, and then it's all ripped away. His character also has a hard time understanding young Artie. Artie seems completely unfazed by his mother's death at times, even asking in one heart-wrenching scene "Will Mummy die by dinner time?". At other times, you can feel Artie's pain at his mother's loss.
Joe and Artie reach a point where things are almost normal again. After watching his son gleefully jump into a hotel bathtub, Joe adopts a "just say yes" attitude to parenting. He and Artie get used to life together, to school and laundry and cooking and bedtime. Joe meets Katy (Laura Fraser), the mother of a girl in Artie's class. Between her and his mother-in-law Barbara (Julia Blake), Joe develops a bit of a support network. As things begin to settle for his family, Joe gets a call from his ex-wife: his eldest son, twelve-year-old Harry (George MacKay) wants to visit. Again, Joe has to connect with a son he rarely sees, and Harry has to try to find his own place in a family where he definitely feels like an outsider and a late addition.
This film does a wonderful job of capturing parenthood. Clive Owen and the boys have definite on-screen chemistry; it's easy to believe they're a family, whether they have an easy time being a family or not. There are scenes that perfectly portray the frustration of having a six year old, living with a person who angrily kicks car seats one moment, who shouts and throws a bag of chips in your face, then minutes later is calmly eating the leftover chips and wondering why you take so long. There's also a lot of joy. As difficult as he finds being a parent, Joe also has moments where Artie's knowledge, understanding, and compassion leave him floored. Joe has a much harder time with older Harry, but that's because Harry is quite obviously having his own troubles: he's left one family for another, and he's not sure that either really has a place for him. And that's in addition to all of the OTHER dilemmas a twelve year old boy faces as he tries to figure out who he is and how he fits into the world.
The Boys Are Back is a great film. The story is excellent (and even more heart-wrenching when you learn it's based on the real experiences of writer Simon Carr). The acting is superb, as mentioned, and the original music by Sigur Ros does a terrific job of setting mood. Non-parents will laugh and cry with the rest of the audience. Parents, however, will also find themselves constantly leaning over to ask "Now, who does that sound like?"
The Right Price: I'm an action junkie, and this film isn't full of action or special effects. As such, I'd probably wait for the DVD. All of the emotion will come across just as well on the small screen, and you'll be able to sob as loudly as you'd like during the first half-hour. It's still definitely a "must see" for parents, and if you favor drama over action it's probably the best film in the theaters this weekend.
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written by BellaDaddy, October 05, 2009
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written by pjmullen, October 07, 2009
The flow of the movie seemed kind of choppy for me, but then again I'm a guy and I like it when things blow up too. I also thought they tried to weave too much into his tale. His wife dies, he doesn't have much of a relationship with his 6 year old, then they toss in a child from a previous marriage that he has no relationship with, turmoil at work, a difficult relationship with his mother in law and a flirtatious relationship with a single mom. I realize that this happens, but it kind of made my head spin.
I thought the way he went from 'just say yes' to a breaking point when all the stressors in his life came to a head was very realistic, however. All in all a good movie, Owen will probably get an Oscar nod for his role and the soundtrack was good. The ending was nice, if not predictable, and left many unanswered questions, just like life.
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written by steve23, October 07, 2009
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written by SurprisedMom, October 08, 2009
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