The Boys Are Back
From within two minutes of it’s opening, whilst the credits are still rolling, there is a message coming through to us. That life is all about perspective as the father drives his Range Rover on the beach with his son riding on the bonnet as people shout at him to stop. Now he’s not going at anything like approaching speed, but the detractors on the sand demonstrate an opinion that differs wildly from those that really seem to enjoy their lives, rather than merely survive it.
Odd perhaps, that this scene starts a deeply heartfelt and emotional story about coming to terms with the loss of a loved one.
When Katy Warr (Laura Fraser) dies of a virulent cancer, husband Joe (Clive Owen) is left to look after son Arty (McAnulty), alone. His first reaction is to take his son away for a roadtrip, in order to get to know each other better than just the man that comes home from work every couple of weeks with some presents, as he tells his Mother-In-Law, who is not too enamoured with the notion.
The acting is top notch by all concerned with Owen doing a sterling job as Joe. All of the supporting cast are just that. This is Owens’ picture from beginning to end but all of the cast turn up and give it their everything and this is easily one of the better Australian produced films of the past year.
Direction is subtle for the majority of the film, giving the pictured a delicate, considered feel, which is necessary in this kind of tragic drama and the backdrop of rural Australia in which the story plays out for the most part, is an ideal setting for seclusion and quiet incomplete grief.
Excellent stuff by all concerned. Despite it’s sad premise, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
The Boys Are Back is released in the UK on 22nd January 2010
The film is regularly pulling on the heartstrings and with a immersive score, it is very easy to find yourself on the edge of tears at the circumstances Joe finds himself in.
As a father forced to cope with raising his child and doing it badly, but desperately wanting to do it well, you begin to understand the inadequacies he is trying to overcome and the feelings of loss are compounded by his inability to do anything as well as his wife. And when his first son from a previous marriage arrives, he is then thrown yet another curve ball.
We witness the trials that the three of them go through together and how they end up apart and then together again, and with every twist and turn you begin to appreciate that this is a very compelling and expertly delivered piece of cinema.
