Good Boys (2019)

Review

89min

Genre:       Comedy

Director:    Gene Stupnitsky

Cast:         Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon…and more

Writers:     Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky

-Synopsis-

On a quest to replace a broken drone and get to an epic kissing party, a trio of twelve-year-old misfit friends embark on an epic foul-mouthed suburban American journey that’ll turn them into young men way too early—in this outrageous, R-rated sixth-grader comedy from the makers of ‘Superbad’ and ‘Neighbors’.

The irreverent high school or college comedy and coming-of-age tale has a long history in Hollywood over the last thirty years, from the ‘Porky’s’ series to the ‘American Pie’ franchise, all the way to the re-invigoration of the sub-genre for a new millennium by writer/producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg with 2007’s ‘Superbad’—not to mention the recent female-led progressive take on the theme ‘Booksmart’. Now Rogen and Goldberg return to re-apply their comedic formula to a new angle, teaming up with directorial debutant Gene Stupnitsky for an outrageous tale of friendship and preadolescence, showing us how good tweens-gone-bad play then their parents are away.

Jacob Tremblay stars as suburban California pre-teen ‘Max’, a typical innocent lad who spends his days nurturing a crush on classmate ‘Brixlee’ (Millie Davis) and hanging with his crew the ‘Beanbag Boys’, comprised of his best friends neurotic compulsive truth-teller ‘Lucas’ (Keith L. Williams), and musical theatre devotee but wannabe rebel ‘Thor’ (Brady Noon). But when their paths cross with their teenage neighbours ‘Hannah’ (Molly Gordon) and ‘Lily’ (Midori Francis), and their journey takes them towards an all-important kissing party, these good boys will get a taste of the adult world which will change their friendship forever.

‘Good Boys’ is billed as ‘Superbad’ meets ‘Stand by Me’, which is a bit of a stretch either way, nevertheless Stupnitsky and his co-writer Lee Eisenberg (Year One, Bad Teacher) do try to inject a bit of poignancy and a nuanced tween coming-of-age tale into a crude, sex toy-heavy suburban adventure—with mixed results which threaten to kneecap the humour. Yet the film does have heart, more than we expected form this kind of film anyway, and framing it around such young characters does soften its edge, and encourages a feelgood message of acceptance and staying true to yourself.

But you don’t come to this kind of movie for the message or the nuance do you?, you come for the comedy, and on that front ‘Good Boys’ does deliver . . . to a point. The film is peppered with physical humour but driven mainly by sight gags and references to sex, drugs and bad behaviour, with the added novelty and comedic fruit of seeing everything through the eyes of three innocent and naive twelve-year-olds. With comedy being that most subjective of genres, and humour so based on preference, the result may come off as crude, outrageous, unsubtle and crass coming-of-age comedy as you’ve never seen before—entirely inappropriate given the age of its protagonists . . . and that’s precisely the point.

And it’s those three leads who successfully carry the film on their distinctly young shoulders, delivering earnest and innocent performances which take us back to our youth and amusingly juxtapose childhood yearning and naiveté with the adult world, with Keith L. Williams often stealing the scene as the compulsive truth-teller and rule-follower of the group.

Yet despite plenty of legitimately hilarious moments and belly laughs aplenty, plus three impressive youngsters selling it all by playing it delightfully straight, the humour does start to wear thin as the formula—essentially one 90 minute joke about kids saying and doing completely inappropriate things—begins to wane and the novelty wears off by the third act.

In spite of its seemingly rebellious nature and outrageous intentions, ‘Good Boys’ is actually a rather safe and sentimental comedy by today’s standards, carefully walking the line of political correctness and inclusion while avoiding the dreaded ‘offensive’ tag, and despite first impressions might actually be considered a tad bit tame by some audiences.

But this middle-of-the-road irreverent comedy has enough heart and delivers more than enough solid chuckles to leave you smiling and satisfied by the end of its brief runtime—if not quite delighted or with a shattered funny bone—bringing a new perspective to this comedy sub-genre by approaching the outrageous and irreverent through the innocence of a child, and perhaps starting a new trend . . . for better or worse.

The Bottom Line…

A classic irreverent coming-of-age comedy and suburban party quest tale from a younger and more innocent perspective, ‘Good Boys’ may be derivative and play it slightly safe, but has enough heart and outrageous behaviour to tickle your funny bone and leave you well entertained, and perhaps launch a new film sub-genre—the R-rated tween comedy.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Superbad (2007)

Three high school misfits determined to graduate with a bang, embark on a quest to reach the party of all parties and lose their virginity before college, with hilariously disastrous consequences in this outrageously irreverent coming-of-age comedy which launched several stellar comedy careers.

Directed by Greg Mottola and starring Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse among others.

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