Good Boys is the directorial debut from Gene Stupnitsky which stars Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon and Keith L Williams. The movie revolves around three sixth graders who are invited to a party. Not knowing how to kiss, these kids set out how to operate and socialize in a party setting, which sets them on a whole adventure of trouble and craziness.
The idea for Good Boys sounded really crazy from the moment I heard of the film. With a raunchy R Rated comedy that revolves around sixth graders, it sounded like it could go easily wrong. However, the trailer won me over, which made me pretty excited to go check out the film. Luckily I got into a very advanced showing of Good Boys and thankfully it exceeded my expectations. Good Boys could very well be the funniest film I have seen all year long!
The thing is, with a film like this, is that it doesn’t really do anything revolutionary with the cinematic medium. If you judge the film-making, it’s very competent from someone who is a first-time director; but nothing really stands out. However, that’s not what the film really sets out to do. What it actually sets out to do is to make it’s comedy work. When judging the film with these circumstances, the film itself truly works because of the humor. Good Boys had me laughing hard from the very first minute of the film, and it never really let down until the very end-credits. By the end of the film, I think my lungs got sore from how much I was laughing.
The thing that enhances the comedy that much more, is quite honestly the genius script. The writers have a true understanding of how sixth graders act and talk to each other throughout the film; as everything the kids do makes sense with each of their individual actions. The way sixth graders are depicted in the film, shows them being realistic tryhard kids, with them making some incredibly dumb mistakes that a typical sixth grader would make. The three leads in the film also have some amazing chemistry, as Tremblay, Noon and Williams do such a great job with their portrayal of their characters. They all play off each other so well, and they feel like real people in elementary school that I would’ve known back then.
Good Boys also has some surprising amount of heart and thematic weight to it. Without spoiling much, there is a decent message to the film, that by the time it ends, the film makes it have much more depth and heart than what most other comedies would regularly have. Good Boys is one of the funniest films you can see all summer long! Sure it does nothing truly extraordinary with its film-making; but when you view the film from the standpoint of an incredibly well-crafted comedy, it works wonders! Beyond being extremely funny, the writers and crew behind the film may just as well be geniuses, based on how they depicted modern-aged sixth graders so well. Go see this film when it comes out next month!
8/10
Good Boys opens Nationwide on August 16th
On The Clock 