The Boys Are Back - 012610

The movie opens with Clive Owen driving down a beach as onlookers stare at him and call him crazy and insane. You, the viewer, have no idea why until the camera pulls back to reveal his eight year old son sitting on the hood of the jeep. The entire movie follows one of a parent's greatest fears: what if my spouse dies? Owen plays Joe Warr a truly loving father but because of his job he isn't home very much. His wife develops cancer and dies within six months leaving him with this son, Artie, whom he really doesn't know very well. As he gets closer to him he begins to feel guilty about his lack of contact with his fifteen year-old son from his first marriage, Harry, and we move into a summer with both boys at his house and his attempts to connect with them as well as get used to life without his beloved Katy.

Sweet is how I would describe this movie, but not in a bad way. Clive Owen is one of my favorite actors and he creates an excellent character here. You only see him cry about his wife's death once and very briefly but at the same time you know he's grieving. Even when he loses his temper you still like the guy because the movie does a great job of getting you to feel for the guy. The sons are both very good actors and work well for the story: Artie bringing out the father in Joe and Harry bringing out the mentor. One unique story choice is the introduction of another woman. This is nothing new, but the father doesn't get into a romantic relationship with her. You can see it happening after this portion of the story is over but for now she's only a friend that Joe can turn to for help. The movie also makes an interesting artistic choice of having Joe talk to Katy frequently. Not so unusual but they have the actress with him. It sounds a bit strange but it really works as a method of showing how Joe mentally works out his mental dilemmas as well as letting us see the relationship they had when she was alive.

The greatest weakness here is pacing. The movie moves(ha) slowly. The annoying thing is the individual scenes are paced well and you don't want any of them cut but you find yourself wishing the story would hurry up and start. The real plot doesn't start until Harry arrives and that's not until around the halfway mark. A lot of things are really cliche as well. While the lack of romance was unique, the new woman arriving is expected before you stick in the disc. In a nod to teen films a party develops at the house that gets completely out of hand. There's the over protective grandmother, and the usual expected tantrums but Joe's approach to parenting is new and kind of refreshing from Hollywood, home of wussy parenting. No, there are no spankings but the house rule of fighting has to be consensual is something every boy wanted growing up.

All in all this movie gets a B minus. It's not bad by any means but it's not great. You would definitely buy it if you saw it in a bargain bin but you wouldn't be looking for it.