The Boys Are Back Movie Review

The Boys Are Back

Cast: Clive Owen, Nicholas McAnulty, George MacKay, Laura Fraser, Emma Booth, Erik Thomson, Julia Blake, Emma Lung
Director: Scott Hicks
Screenplay: Simon Carr (Novel), Allan Cubitt (Adaptation)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rated: M Mature themes, sexual references and coarse language
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Released: 12 Nov 2009

Inspired By A True Story

Synopsis:

The film follows Joe, a wise-cracking British sports journalist, living family life in regional South Australia. In the wake of his wife's tragic death, he finds himself in a sudden state of single parenthood with six-year-old Artie. With turbulent emotions swirling, and Joe's elder teenage son coming to stay, he's faced with raising two boys in a household devoid of feminine influence and an unabashed lack of rules. United by unspoken love and in search of a road forward, the three multi-generational boys - father and sons alike - must each find their own way to grow up.

My Verdict:

British Joe Warr (Clive Owen) is a successful sports journalist who emigrated to Australia but after the sudden death of his second wife Katy (Laura Fraser), he is thrust into being a single father to six-year-old Artie (Nicholas McAnulty), which is further complicated when his teenage son from his first marriage, Harry (George MacKay) arrives from England to stay. The Boys Are Back is a study of the aftermath of a man whose life suddenly changes and his attempts to cope with the impact.

Joe abandons rules and adopts a 'just say yes' attitude to parenting which is questioned by his in-laws and other parents from Artie's school, and he befriends another single parent, Laura (Emma Booth), and they develop a relationship that also becomes complicated. Added to Joe's burden of being a single parent, is his journalism career and he crosses some professional ethical boundaries and takes some serious risks but not always succeeding.

Clive Owen is wonderfully strong and solid as Joe and really carries the movie with convincing confidence. Totally believable, he delivers a performance that really does get to the core of a man shattered by his wife's sudden death and trying to maintain the rhythm of his life, which is slowly crumbling around him. He struggles to understand how to relate to both his sons but is helped by his wife whom he sees sporadically after her death. She offers salient advice, which he adopts but this device doesn't always work onscreen, as it does sometimes feel a little too unnatural. Nicholas McAnulty is just adorable and so natural in the very demanding role as Artie and he gets to deliver some delightfully innocent lines that only a child could produce. Likewise, George MacKay is great as Harry, offering a realistic and sensitive portrayal of a child feeling abandoned who is desperately trying to find answers and his place in the world. Mention must also be made of Julia Blake's strong performance as Katy's mother and of Emma Booth's perceptive and sometime frustrated Laura.

This trio of men is such a change from the usual single mum's portrayed onscreen. Watching Clive Owen's character trying to come to grips with being a single father is sometimes downright heartbreaking but he does get to deliver one of the greatest statements ever said by a man onscreen when he admits to Laura that he is overwhelmed at the level of responsibility of being a parent and not realising just how much work there is to running a household - the washing, cooking, cleaning etc. and so from a female perspective this is simply brilliant!

Filmed on location in the absolutely beautiful South Australia, Adelaide based director Scott Hicks has used his local knowledge to highlight some hidden gems of scenery, including some wonderful coastal scenery and stunning vineyards, many of which are only a 45 minute trip from the capital city (Adelaide), highlighting just how striking the Australian landscape can be blended with some native wildlife. Seeing Joe step out his back door from the wake after his wife's funeral and sit alone in a paddock and hearing the sounds of galahs and the sounds of a silence that is unique to Australia is just so emotionally moving. Bravo Scott for that!

The Boys Are Back is a sensitive and endearing film that doesn't sink into sentimentality to deliver any messages but relies on nicely balanced jumps between humour and grief, and from unspoiled landscapes to the fast-paced world of career deadlines. Backed by a stirring score including Icelandic band Sigur Ros, there is a somewhat predictable resolution amongst some heavy subject matter that is handled sensitively and with empathy.

Rating : *** ½

Christina Bruce