A delightful, heartwarming film. Clive Owen’s with his best performance yet!
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DVD TITLE: The Boys Are Back
DURATION: 104 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Spanish Language Track, English SDH and Spanish Subtitles, Widescreen (2:35:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions
COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
RATED: PG-13 (For Some Sexual Language and Thematic Elements)
RELEASE DATE: January 26, 2010
Based on the novel “The Boys Are Back in Town” by Simon Carr
Directed by Scott Hicks
Adaptation by Allan Cubitt
Executive Producer: Peter Bennett-Jones, Clive Owen, David M. Thompson, Jane Wright
Producer: Greg Brenman, Timothy White
Associate Producer: Jessica Beiler
Line Producer: Paul Ranford
Music by Hal Lindes
Cinematography by Greig Fraser
Edited by Scott Gray
Casting by Nikki Barrett, Nina Gold
Production Design by Melinda Doring
Art Direction by Janie Parker
Set Decoration by Glen W. Johnson
Costume Design by Emily Seresin
Starring:
Clive Owen as Joe Warr
Laura Fraser as Katy Warr
Emma Booth as Laura
George MacKay as Harry Warr
Nicholas McAnulty as Artie Warr
Emma Lung as Mia
Julia Blake as Barbara
Natasha Little as Flick
Erik Thomson as Tom
The death of his wife leaves wisecracking sportswriter Joe Warr (Clive Owen) with a curious six year-old (Nicholas McAnulty) and a rebellious teen from a previous marriage (George MacKay) to bring up in a household devoid of feminine influence. So Joe takes on parenting the only way he knows how—full throttle. With an exuberance born of necessity, he teaches his boys to meet the joy and fragility of life head on. The Boys Are Back chronicles the fierce love and loyalty the three Warr men discover for each other as they make their way through the trials of everyday life.
In 2009, “The Boys are Back” is a film from BBC films, adapted from the novel “The Boys are Back in Town” by Simon Carr and was distributed in the US from Miramax Films.
The film is directed by Scott Hicks (“”Snow Falling on Cedars”, “No Reservations”, “Shine”) and a screenplay adaptation by Allan Cubitt (“The Hound of Baskervilles”, “Anna Karenina: TV Series”). The film features cinematography by Greig Fraser (“Spider”, “Last Ride”, “Bright Star”) and music by composer Hal Lindes (“Apparitions”, “Little Devil”, “Losing Gemma”).
“The Boys are Back” is about a busy sportswriter in Australia named Joe Warr (played by Clive Owen, “Sin City”, “Children of Men”, “Shoot ‘Em Up”). Because he travels so much, his wife Katy (played by Laura Fraser, “The Passion”, “The Flying Scotsman”, “No Holds Bard”) raises their five-year-old son Artie (played by Nicholas McAnulty).
For Joe, his connection with Artie is brief since he works a lot and their main emotional connection is when he brings over gifts when he comes home. But fortunately Katy and her parents have been there for Artie.
But one night as he goes out with his wife to a dinner party, she feels sick to her stomach and collapses. She has cancer and it has spread throughout her body and she doesn’t have much time left. Joe tries to prepare Artie for his mom’s inevitable death but both are not prepared of how life would be afterward without their mom.
Without his mother, Joe now wants to connect with his son and be there and takes time off from his work. Joe sees life differently now as he is forced to be a father for his son but most importantly, asking his son Harry (played by George McKay, “Defiance”, “Peter Pan”) from his first marriage to come stay with him in Australia.
But Joe realizes that he never really had any connection with his sons. When Harry was six, he left him to be with another woman who was pregnant with Artie. And thus, this is the first real time in their lives Joe and his son Harry are together and a similar situation with Artie who was always dependent on his mother. Now the three must live as a family but will Joe be the father that they need?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“The Boys are Back” features beautiful cinematography from Southern Australia. Director Scott Hicks knew of what scenes he wanted in the film and Greg Fraser does a great job in showcasing the ocean, the blue skies, the yellow and green landscapes.  The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. Shots of Joe and his wife Katy was well-filmed as with Joe and his sons. Key scenes showing the family bond and him trying to be there for his loved ones. The film is presented in Widescreen (2:35:1) – enhanced for 16×9 televisions.
As for audio, the film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with a Spanish language track included. The film is primarily dialogue driven with the occasional music. Dialogue is clear and understandable and is primarily front and center channel driven.
Subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Boys are Back” comes with the following special features:
- The Boys are Back: A Photographic Journey – (16:22) The following featurette showcases photography taken on the set of the film and behind-the-scenes. Optional commentary by director Scott Hicks is included as Hicks talks about working with the various talent and crew and filming in Southern Australia.
- A Father and Two Sons, On Set – (1:42) Author Simon Carr talks about the day his sons met the talent playing them and how the real life sons and the movie sons got a long quite well with each other.
A delightful, heartwarming film. Clive Owen’s best performance yet!
“The Boys Are Back” is a film inspired by a true story and where films about life after a deceased parent is nothing new, what makes this film so special is the connection between father and two sons that he has never been close with because of his commitment of being one of the best sports writers out there. Always traveling to major sports competitions, he has always trusted his son with his wife.
But it’s when the character of Joe is forced to take on the role of father, you can feel that wall between him and his son. He knows that he hasn’t been much of a father but he’s trying. But when his son Harry from a previous marriage comes to stay with them, this is when we see Joe start to learn about himself. Things he was not conscious about. He’s only thought about his young son Artie with his current wife, its when he sees his son Harry, a son that he has not really been too close with, you realize that Harry has missed out on having a father and now Harry is learning first hand that even though he had this new family in Australia, he has always made decisions that would benefit himself and never realizing how his children were feeling.
It’s a real-eye opening story that you don’t really see too often in a film. As mentioned, Clive Owens does a great job with his performance as Joe but credit also goes to the children played by George McKay and Nicholas McNaulty. Also, the characters of Barbara played by Julia Blake. Blake plays a good grandmother but having lost her daughter to cancer, she wants to make sure that her only living connection with her daughter, which is her grandson, is taken care of. And Julia has a hard time trusting Joe who has made some bad decisions.
Another actress that deserves credit is model Emma Booth who plays the character Laura. A woman who takes care of Artie when Joe is gone and a single parent who has chemistry with Joe but doesn’t know where there relationship/friendship is going. Is she just his babysitter or does Joe really care about her?
As for the film being rated PG-13, there are some scenes with profanity and some situations that you just don’t want your young children to recreate in real life, such as riding on the hood of a vehicle to jumping into a bath. But there is no violence, no scary situations for children but some sexual language and certain elements that parents may not want their children to see.
The fact is that this is a dysfunctional family. A child losing his mother and having to deal with the person closes to him not there anymore, is hard for a young child. And the same with the character of Harry. A boy that loves his father but they have not been together since he left him and his mother. So, there is resentment. And for Joe, its just being put in the role of a single parent while having this major career which is now being affected. All three individuals are facing challenges that they have never faced before. But together as a family, they try to make things good and that is what the heart of the film is about.
Overall, “The Boys are Back” is a delightful, heartwarming film worth watching. Definitely recommended!