The Boys Are Back2009
The Boys Are Back (2009)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Great performances by Clive Owen and The Boys save this melodrama from entering into the sappy territory it might have in less competent hands.
The Boys Are Back Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Joe Warr
as Artie
as Harry
as Laura
as Katy
as Barbara
as Tom
as Digby
as Flick
as Tim Walker
as Lucy
as Mia
as School Housemaster
as Paula
as Digby & Paula's Son
as Digby & Paula's Daughter
as Digby & Paula's Daughter
as Digby & Paula's Son
as Digby & Paula's Daughter
as Digby & Paula's Daughter
as Artie's Teacher
as Goldfish Boy
as Kangaroo Boy
as Headbutter
as School Secretary
as Bree
as Newspaper Office PA
as Man on Beach
as Man on Beach
as Woman on Beach
as Woman on Beach
as Birthday Party Mother
as Birthday Party Mother
as Tennis Journalist
as Smart Party Hostess
as Nurse
as Editorial Meeting Journalist
as Editorial Meeting Journalist
as Editorial Meeting Journalist
as Editorial Meeting Journalist
as Editorial Meeting Journalist
as Editorial Meeting Journalist
as Beach Girl
as Beach Kid
as Beach Kid
as Beach Kid
as Beach Kid
as Harry's Friend
as Harry's Friend
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Critic Reviews for The Boys Are Back
All Critics (126) | Top Critics (49) | Fresh (92) | Rotten (34) | DVD (2)
While not rising to the status of first rate, Boys Are Back is interesting and worth seeing.
Owen reveals a rarely glimpsed warmth and the father and son dynamic has charm, but sappiness keeps the film nice, rather than as good as it might have been.
Hicks's directing style is straightforward and unfussy - a description you could apply to this big-hearted film as a whole.
Aggressively life-affirming, unashamedly sentimental and tear-jerking with industrial efficiency.
If you could order a heart-tugging movie about a widower single dad from the Boden catalogue, accessorised with emotional moments purchased online at johnlewis.com, it might look like this excruciatingly artificial and prettified film.
Hicks's hand with these relationships is more than sure enough to guide this unexpectedly observant movie over its occasional rough spots.
Audience Reviews for The Boys Are Back
A touching drama with a great melancholy soundtrack by Sigur Rós and an outstanding performance by Clive Owen as an adorable character whose actions you may not agree with but still you empathize with his honest efforts to raise his sons the way he believes to be the best.
Super Reviewer
Clive Owen is one of my favorite actors, and I've wanted to watch this for quite a while, just never had time and just kept passing it up. Finally got around to watching it and it's just ok. It's a drama about a sports journalist whose wife dies and he is left to raise their son, along with a son who decides to live with him from a previous marriage. Now he has to juggle his grief, his songs grief, his career, being a single dad, and life in general. The movie has some very touching scenes and sad situations. However, the movie is slow and the characters aren't developed enough that you really feel for them. I'm a sucker for movies where kids are heartbroken("Finding Neverland" or "Incredibly Loud and Extremely Loud"), but here the scenes where the boys have breakdowns didn't effect me much. Having said that, the acting is all very good, it's just the story and direction just didn't work all that great for me. It's worth a watch if you are in the mood for a decent drama, but otherwise just skip over it.
Super Reviewer
Would earn a higher rating if not for the overly drawn-out and weepy first act - fair enough, the movie had to show us that the hero really loved his amazing wife so that, when she spoke to him from beyond the grave later on, (or seemed to), the viewer would care... but 30 minutes could have been 10 and the filmmaker could have gotten right down to it, and shown us what is really here: a story about a man emerging from his selfishness and facing what he's done wrong to become a good father again. With beautiful cinematography, excellent child acting, and a standout performance by Clive Owen, you'll be glad you stuck with it to the end, but yeesh, that first half-hour...
Super Reviewer
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