Last night I watched “December Boys,” a sweet little film about one wonderful summer in the lives of four orphaned boys.
By virtue of a little good luck, they’re able to spend some time on the Australian coast, away from the barren Outback wasteland where their orphanage is.
The movie is a little summer romance and a little coming-of-age all in one.
Honestly, when someone handed the dvd to me, I really didn’t feel like watching it. It stars Daniel Radcliffe in his first non-Harry Potter role. For that reason alone I thought “novelty,” even though I’ve enjoyed those little movies about the boy wizard. So I reluctantly put it in and sat back to sort of force myself to watch it. It turned out to be a real treat.
One of the best parts about the movie is the scenery and cinematography. Filmed along a tiny cove, there are these wonderful sweeping shots of the Australian coastline. There are rolling hills, tall cliffs with extraordinary views, and gorgeous images of the blue sea. Watching it in the cold February of our North American winter, I found myself longing for warmer climates. Honestly, the movie could’ve been terrible… you could’ve muted it practically and the setting alone was enough to enjoy it all. Luckily, there’s a little more to it than that.
I’ve read some customer reviews that slammed the movie for being cliché and corny. Without a doubt, it is absolutely those things at times. Without question, this movie is nothing you haven’t already seen before. It certainly has its forgettable moments. It’s forced in places, and even tries to shove some goofy symbolism your way at other times. But all in all, it was a movie about relationships. The tangible bond between the four orphaned boys. The powerful love between a man and his ailing wife. The marital struggles of another couple who deal with the sometimes painful space between dreams and reality. The summer fling for a young kid and his first time. Yes, it’s all been done before, but what hasn’t? To some degree, everything’s been done before, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find something in it that’s appealing.
So rent “December Boys.” It’s a sweet, warm sense of escapism that’s bound to make you smile at least once. And since when is that a bad thing?
Last night I watched “December Boys,” a sweet little film about one wonderful summer in the lives of four orphaned boys. By virtue of a little good luck, they’re able to spend some time on the Australian coast, away from the barren Outback wasteland where their orphanage is. The movie is a little summer romance and a little coming-of-age all in one.
2 comments:
Yeah I was told Brokeback Mountain was beautiful. Beautiful imagery, cinematography it indeed had. Story, maybe not. Disjointed scene transitions accompanied with disjointed story progressions. It left me not caring about the characters and allowed me to skip entire scene chapters without missing anything.
I saw Brokeback in the theatre... alone. None of my friends would see it with me. I was disappointed in their macho homophobia. I wanted to see it because I thought it represented a major step in Hollywood. In the end, I wouldn't say it was a great movie. The acting was great, but the film was long and slow in a lot of places. I would say, however, that it is easily one of the saddest movies I've ever seen.
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