Tony vs. TK’s view of GOOD BOYS – Rated R

This review is brought to you by TONY MOSELLO

GOOD BOYS – Rated R – 1 hr. 29 mins.

DIRECTOR:  Gene Stupnitsky

WRITERS:  Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg

STARRING:  Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Will Forte, Lil Rel Howery, Retta and Mariessa Portelance

 

One Bad Decision Leads to Another

Ever find yourself wondering just how exposed kids are these days?  Well, wonder no more because “Good Boys” is here to terrify all current and future parents with how much their children may already be exposed to.  With Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams), and Thor (Brady Noon) about to enter the 6^th grade, the bean bag brothers are faced with a harsh reality; it’s time to grow-up.  With their first kissing party on the horizon, the boys exercise all available options to learn how to kiss; including an ill-fated look search of porn, practicing on a sex doll, and spying on their neighbors with Max’s dad’s drone.  After the drone is captured by two older girls, the boys unknowingly involve themselves is a plot that is way over their heads.  With the party only hours away and Max’s goal of kissing his true love hanging in the balance, the boys must conquer every obstacle to make it to the party and cement themselves as 6^th graders.

Let me start off by making this loud and clear: “Good Boys” is not for kids!  While the film centers-around a trio of young kids, the subject matter is strongly-adult, crude, and filled with drug and sexual references.  So much of the film’s success relies on the trio of young actors and they do not disappoint!  Tremblay, Williams, and Noon absolutely nail their character’s extreme naiveté and innocence, with each of them offering their own unique spin as well.  The supporting cast, while seldom-featured, is also quite strong; most notably Will Forte as Max’s loving Dad and Lil Rel Howery and Retta as Lucas’ parents.  While the cast is important to pull-off the vision, the screenwriters deserve the majority of the credit here.  The jokes are absolutely endless and never get old.  I promise you will laugh from start-to-finish at all of them; even the countless misinterpreted sexual lingo jokes that are littered-throughout.

However, the laughs are only part of the film’s main goal.  The film is a fantastic coming-of-age story that viewers of all (appropriate) ages can relate to.  While the film is FILLED with dirty and raunchy humor, there is truly a beautiful message that acts as the film’s moral compass; separating “Good Boys” from most other raunchy comedies these days.  Coming-in at a brisk 89 minutes, “Good Boys” flows seamlessly as the laughs continue.  I truly view “Superbad” as one of the most important comedies in the last 20 years and I think “Good Boys” will carry that same importance as well.  While the previous focused on high school seniors before heading-off the college, this one focuses on the youth.  While some of it may be extreme, kids are learning about this time of subject matter at a much earlier age nowadays and, while the film in no way glorifies it, it’s important for them to learn about it in a safe, controlled environment.  I am by NO MEANS recommending parents to take their middle schoolers to see this, but it may be a film that kids inevitably find a way to take off their parents shelves and watch with their friends; and that’s maybe not such a bad thing.

“Good Boys” is by-far the funniest film of 2019 so far and it’s a refreshing take on the adolescent scene and is filled with laughs from start-to-finish.  I can’t wait to watch it again!

4.5 out of 5

 

 

This humble opinion is brought to by you T. K. Edwards

GOOD BOYS  – Rated R  – 1 hr. 29 mins     

Director:  Gene Stupnitsky

Cast:  Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Will Forte, Lil Rel Howery

Three sixth grade boys ditch school and embark on an epic journey while carrying accidentally stolen drugs, being hunted by teenage girls, and trying to make their way home in time for a long-awaited party.

NO SPOILERS BELOW

I thought the new movie GOOD BOYS was going to be a combination of two movies – AMERICAN PIE and SUPERBAD.  You know the kinda movie I’m talking about right? One that’s a very raunchy comedy with loads of unnecessary cussing (which I love) and sexually explicit images (which I don’t mind), but to my surprise, GOOD BOYS wasn’t like that at all.  The characters weren’t just cussing “just to cuss”. Same with the movie’s sexual references. Everything in the movie had a purpose and that purpose was to help reinforce the fact that these three kids we follow don’t have a clue what it means to be an adult.  They constantly have to guess what “adult things” are and why people are saying the things they say, but for the most part they are just three uncorrupted kids going through what they believe to be the biggest problems they will ever have to deal with in their entire lives.  This is Gene Stupnitsky’s first time directing a feature film and I thought he did a great job his first time out. I really enjoyed how he kept the theme of wholesomeness throughout the movie because it did remind me of how I was when I was a kid. And just like everyone else, I pretended to know what things meant and never admitted to “not knowing” because if I did, I would get made fun of by another kid that probably just learned the answer 5 minutes before asking everyone else.  Another reason this movie works is the casting of Jacob Tremblay – He is perfect for this role! His performances in WONDER and ROOM add to his character’s innocence in the story, which in turn sells each joke in the movie even more. That is what’s really great about this movie, the innocence of the characters. Here you have an R rated comedy starring mostly just “sixth graders” and it works because you believe these kids are squeaky clean by the way they use harsh language and how overwhelmingly naive they are when it comes to the topic of sex.  Now don’t get me wrong, this movie is still rated R and still has loads of inappropriate humor, but don’t start thinking GOOD BOYS is not worth watching because that is not what I’m trying to get across. What I’m trying to prepare you for is a comedy that is much smarter than what you may have originally thought was going to be just another dick & fart joke movie. My suggestion is to go see GOOD BOYS in theaters or wait to watch it at home, either way it’s worth your time & money. Until next time, thanks for reading.

P.S. – There is no post credit scene.