"Good Boys is sporadically funny, but it quickly falls apart due to lazy writing, wonky plotting and repetitive gags... 3/10"
Good Boys is a hard-R comedy directed by Gene Stupnitsky (Bad Teacher, Year One) and produced by Seth Rogen and company, responsible for films such as Superbad and Sausage Party. The film revolves around three 6th grade kids who are invited to a "kissing party". Since they have no idea what they're getting into, the three boys try to do some research and "practice" before the party. This quickly leads to trouble, and each attempt to fix things only digs them into a deeper whole. While the 3 leads have some decent chemistry, there's little they can do to support the thin material they're given to work with. Good Boys is sporadically funny, but it falls apart due to lazy writing, wonky plotting and repetitive gags.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
From the opening scene of the film, things seem off. The dialogue is bizarre and forced, especially from Max's father. He comes into Max's room and says he's proud of him for learning to "sexually himself". Yes, this really happens.
In the first act, we get to know Max, Lucas, and Thor. While all three young actors do a solid job with the material, it can't save the thin characterization or repetitive jokes. There's a gag early on where Max brings out his dad's "CPR" doll to practice kissing on, but it's actually a sex doll. Not much later, Thor brings out "weapons" from his parent's closet, but they turn out to actually be sex toys.
Many of the jokes follow this same copy-paste formula: The kids are presented with subject matter/objects that they misinterpret or misunderstand. The audience is more aware than the kids in most situations, so you could drop them into basically any scenario and the jokes practically write themselves. The film coasts along relying on the innocence and ignorance of kids as it's template for cheap punchlines, and it quickly grows tiresome despite an occasionally chuckle-worthy line.
Good Boys reaches for an overarching tone of sentimentality and innocence, tossing in various topics that are common in coming-of-age stories, but they don't amount to much. The film touches on heavy concepts such as divorce, bullying, and self-acceptance, but these concepts are never fully realized or explored. The emotional beats feel unearned and underwritten.
There's a sequence towards the middle where Lucas gets in a slapstick bike wreck and dislocates his shoulder. Afraid to go the hospital, Max and Thor decide to take matters into their own hands. There's multiple shots where Lucas's shoulder is clearly visible, and you can see that someone forgot to reattach the prosthetic prop-arm in between shots. Max and Thor decide to pull on Lucas's arm to fix it as he cries out in pain. As soon as his arm pops back into place, things go back to normal immediately, and Lucas sits upright and says "my parents are getting divorced". The scene changes from slapstick humor to childhood drama in a split second. This sequence is especially sloppy in its execution, with an abrupt, awkward tonal shift.
Comedy has different appeals for everyone, so you may get more out of this movie than me. That said, it's practically indefensible as being a great film. It plays things too safe, doesn't have enough ideas, and none of the emotional beats ring true. There are some funny moments sprinkled throughout (the action sequence involving a paintball gun is extremely entertaining) but mostly, you've seen all of this before in better films. If you haven't, it'd be much more worth your time to seek them out instead of sitting through Good Boys in your local theater.
3/10
Good Boys is a hard-R comedy directed by Gene Stupnitsky (Bad Teacher, Year One) and produced by Seth Rogen and company, responsible for films such as Superbad and Sausage Party. The film revolves around three 6th grade kids who are invited to a "kissing party". Since they have no idea what they're getting into, the three boys try to do some research and "practice" before the party. This quickly leads to trouble, and each attempt to fix things only digs them into a deeper whole. While the 3 leads have some decent chemistry, there's little they can do to support the thin material they're given to work with. Good Boys is sporadically funny, but it falls apart due to lazy writing, wonky plotting and repetitive gags.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
From the opening scene of the film, things seem off. The dialogue is bizarre and forced, especially from Max's father. He comes into Max's room and says he's proud of him for learning to "sexually himself". Yes, this really happens.
In the first act, we get to know Max, Lucas, and Thor. While all three young actors do a solid job with the material, it can't save the thin characterization or repetitive jokes. There's a gag early on where Max brings out his dad's "CPR" doll to practice kissing on, but it's actually a sex doll. Not much later, Thor brings out "weapons" from his parent's closet, but they turn out to actually be sex toys.
Many of the jokes follow this same copy-paste formula: The kids are presented with subject matter/objects that they misinterpret or misunderstand. The audience is more aware than the kids in most situations, so you could drop them into basically any scenario and the jokes practically write themselves. The film coasts along relying on the innocence and ignorance of kids as it's template for cheap punchlines, and it quickly grows tiresome despite an occasionally chuckle-worthy line.
Good Boys reaches for an overarching tone of sentimentality and innocence, tossing in various topics that are common in coming-of-age stories, but they don't amount to much. The film touches on heavy concepts such as divorce, bullying, and self-acceptance, but these concepts are never fully realized or explored. The emotional beats feel unearned and underwritten.
There's a sequence towards the middle where Lucas gets in a slapstick bike wreck and dislocates his shoulder. Afraid to go the hospital, Max and Thor decide to take matters into their own hands. There's multiple shots where Lucas's shoulder is clearly visible, and you can see that someone forgot to reattach the prosthetic prop-arm in between shots. Max and Thor decide to pull on Lucas's arm to fix it as he cries out in pain. As soon as his arm pops back into place, things go back to normal immediately, and Lucas sits upright and says "my parents are getting divorced". The scene changes from slapstick humor to childhood drama in a split second. This sequence is especially sloppy in its execution, with an abrupt, awkward tonal shift.
Comedy has different appeals for everyone, so you may get more out of this movie than me. That said, it's practically indefensible as being a great film. It plays things too safe, doesn't have enough ideas, and none of the emotional beats ring true. There are some funny moments sprinkled throughout (the action sequence involving a paintball gun is extremely entertaining) but mostly, you've seen all of this before in better films. If you haven't, it'd be much more worth your time to seek them out instead of sitting through Good Boys in your local theater.
3/10