BoyTown (2006) User Reviews

Damn it!

[tastyhotdogs · 5/10 · 13 May 2007]

I was really expecting a lot from this film, but was badly letdown.

The movie seems to be formed out of the idea of funny songs about middle age women. That's it! Besides this idea, the film fell totally flat.

The movie begins with the former lead of the band, Benny G (Robbins), thinking about reuniting the old band. He visits all the former members of the band and they agree to give it a go. Within 15 minutes of the film they're releasing singles. Their first attempts fail, until Benny has the idea of writing songs aimed at issues facing middle age women. Funny idea, and some funny songs....but that's it. Not enough here to fill a movie. From here the band releases an album and goes on tour. That's it.

Absolutely no depth given to the characters, none of the characters even have any quirks, besides one of the band seeming to be gay.

The great cast of comedians gathered was wasted, especially Bob Franklin. Normally Bob is funny just by opening his mouth, but he was given nothing to work with. Pleasant enough, but this should have rivaled "The Castle" for laughs.

Pretty good, But also Pretty Bad - Great Dialogue

[FatherPaul · 5/10 · 19 October 2006]

Caught this movie in Hobart's premier theatre- Eastlands, The Bogan Capital of the world.

After taking three minutes to eat popcorn, we proceeded to watch the 88 minutes (apparently) of Mick molloys brainchild, Boytown.

Being a reasonable fan of molloy and a cream-your-jeans fan of Wayne hope, me and my super best friends were looking forward to a quiet stroll along the generic, choreographed, lip-synced lane of boy-bands. A lane filled with a mix of treacherous storyline ravines, puddles of genius and a lot of bumpy plot twists in the road.

The idea is great. Boyband. Sure, its been done to death, but taking a fresh angle of mature boy-bands is quite a hilarious concept. The beginning of the movie dragged a lot and could have been saved with some witty dialogue, however most of the jokes were fairly predictable and lacked actually being funny. There were some good ideas, but were very poorly executed.

As the movie went on, it started to get better. Lachy Hulme was very good as the record company owner, unlike Glenn Robbins at least his character had dimension. Glenn definitely didn't suit this role, as an audience member, it was difficult to get emotionally attached to him. He is way better acting as a character. (Kath & Kim, Uncle Arthur, Russel Coight, Donkey Kong)

There were some very funny moments within around the middle of the movie. The Rio de Janeiro sexy cabaret singer part was easily the funniest part in the movie. Great cameo from Akmal. The songs sung throughout were well done. The crying song was easily the best sounding song, I'd purchase that faster than a fox on crack. The funniest song was definitely about that "special" time of the month. Very clever indeed. I don't know if Molloy wrote all those, if so, kudos.

The end, well I won't ruin it...

Yes I will.

Everyone becomes possessed by ghosts of robots from the future.

Seem ridiculous? It actually would have been a better ending than in the movie. I love those type of endings in the movie, but this one was done poorly. Gary Eck did absolutely nothing for me in the film, and was responsible for some of the worst lines in the movie. Rod Laver scene with Gary = Worst line I have ever heard in a movie, ever.

This is the best one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdK-aLGxV0Y

Anyways, all in all a fairly average type of comedy. The songs are great, the dialogue not so, story lines are very weak, needed more Wayne hope and tony martin. Bob Franklin could have had a bigger role too, not sure what happened to his little story in the middle either.

But, if you are a fan of molloys, you will like it. In the meantime if you want some awesome Australian comedy, anything by Shaun Micallef will whip this movie like a jockey on a horses ass.

Mixed feelings and catchy tunes

[sallyforth1 · 6/10 · 17 July 2007]

I've got mixed feelings about this film. Like many other reviewers, I had high expectations, especially after seeing the brilliant clip for "I Cry" and listening to the Boytown podcasts. The cast of this movie are extremely funny guys, but the story and scripting left a lot to be desired.

Good points:

Amazing cast, top Australian comics

I loved the songs and I just can't stop singing them! I just may buy the CD...

Excellent dancing (and even funnier watching rehearsals behind-the-scenes on the DVD)

Some great laughs sprinkled throughout

Bad points:

Amazing cast wasted (Bob Franklin especially, massively under-utilised)

The ridiculousness of the song lyrics (especially after changing to cater for mature-aged audience) clashed with the comparatively straight storyline

Story jumped from scene to scene with the bare minimum of character and story development, like a sketch show with joiners

The documentary within a film was completely unnecessary

Attempts at a serious sub-plot towards the end fell flat

The ending totally destroyed many of my (up until then) good impressions of the movie. One of the worst I've ever seen (I would have bought the DVD for the songs alone if it weren't for the catastrophe of an ending ruining it all)

Best enjoyed under the influence of alcohol and without a brain

[r-other · 2/10 · 8 April 2007]

I expected so much more from Mick Malloy and Glen Robbins. This movie was definitely a 'cringer'. The plot was thin, the humor was weak, immature and unchecked - like little boys laughing at their own jokes. As a woman I was offended, not so much by the lyrics themselves, but by the concept that women in general would be entertained by such rubbish. On the more positive side, I felt that 1980's style film clips were effective and realistic. I quite enjoyed the contemporary BoyTown film clips and would have appreciated lyrics with intelligent humor. The acting was good, filming effective. I would definitely not put this in the same class as The Dish, The Castle or Crackerjack.

Boytown is great - best Aussie comedy in ages

[freo43 · 7/10 · 28 June 2006]

I got along to a sneak "mystery" preview screening at Village in Sth Yarra, and almost contemplated leaving when I found out it was a Mick Molloy Australian comedy movie. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised though! If you like The Castle, The Dish or any American MTV rockumentary/music based movies, I'd think you'll enjoy this. Glenn Robbins was great in the lead I thought, in fact all 5 of the boy band were very good. Three bad bits- I thought the closing 3 minutes were among the worst ever seen in Cinema, and really destroyed the enjoyment of the rest of the flick. It was Aussie commercial-TV sketch show bad. (and THAT'S BAD!). The same goes for the ridiculous scene of one of the guys dancing in his underwear... BAD! And one of the songs they sing will probably be offensive to some people.

So, those 3 cringe-worthy moments aside, I think these guys have done a fantastic job.

I left the cinema laughing and enjoyed telling others about the movie, something I haven't done for an Aussie movie in many years (since The Castle, probably!).

When it comes out, check it out and hopefully these flicks will keep improving :)

Very glad I didn't pay to see this (just saw it on free-to-air this evening)!!

[Avalanche_33 · 2/10 · 17 February 2008]

Well, what a strange film that was indeed... The amount of hype that this movie received when it was released in the cinemas was complete overkill and did not justify the quality of the film, which really should be avoided like the plague. Australian comedy really is much better than this, with this feature being a black spot in Australian film history. I was left wondering "Is that it? Is that all that they could do with the amount of talent in the cast?".

The tag-line of "Population Five" might actually apply to the number of people that may have been left in the cinema by about half-way through the movie after everyone had stood up and departed..... I've got a feeling that the whole production and cast are laughing at the people who actually paid to see the film - I'm sure many people who went to see this in the cinema would have left bitterly disappointed.

There was a bit of a storyline in this film, but it just seemed that the film was trying to squeeze too much out of the limited time utilized. The issues of family and comradeship were dealt with rather well, especially in relation to the main character (Benny G, played by Glenn Robbins), but the film left the audience wanting more from the heavily underutilized cast. And yes, I agree with the other reviewer (sallyforth1) about the ending, which seemed to be written hurriedly within five minutes in an effort to just be done with the project.

Good but not great

[byroti · 6/10 · 21 October 2006]

Being a fan of Mick Molloy I was looking forward to seeing his new movie. Whilst is was good it is not a side splitting fun-fest as expected. There were no snappy lines or any snappy dialogue. I think Mick may have been to busy sharing the writing around to all characters to worry about giving himself (or others) enough funny material. The songs are mildly amusing in an obvious way not in a subtle way ie "Cellulite lady" or "Dishpan hands". "I cry" is more of the subtle variety I expected where you have to listed to the words to get a laugh. There were too many periods of the movie where there were no laughs at all.

Anyway it's certainly not a dud but like so many movies nowadays could have been a lot better. Do we now have to wait another 4 years for his next effort?

Funny... NOT

[annie-186 · 3/10 · 10 December 2006]

I really like Mick Molloy, "Crackerjack" being one of his best and I liked the trailers for Boytown, so expected to love it. However, something is wrong with the comic timing in this venture. There were a few genuine raucous laughs but this was mostly really feeble painful try hard humour that made me cringe and wince instead of laugh.

The music to the songs was reasonable enough, but the lyrics were all pathetic and unfortunately there were too many lame songs and not enough substance.

Mick, please try for your more subtle brand of humour next time. Your "Mum" was the only entertaining character in this venture.

Cute and Comical

[mcscraic · 7/10 · 2 December 2006]

Boytown

stars Mick Molloy ,Gary Ek, Bob Franklin, Wayne Hope and Glenn Robbins . Music recorded at Hothouse Studios in Victoria .

An encouraging storyline here delivers a terrific tale of the reforming of an 80's boy band . Long after the stardom has faded the five new old kids on the block get together again for another crack at fame . Their first attempt is a fizzer but a rethink of the bands image propels Boytown towards a number one hit . The clever cute comical and cliché packed songs in the movie are co-written by Mick and Richard Molloy and with titles like Parent Teacher night , Dishpan Hands and Love Handles you can see the kind of market the record company and band are targeting . Boytown set out on a world tour sweeping middle-aged women off their feet who still remember Boytown in their Golden Years . On the road with Boytown there are some moments of Glory and the word pop enigmatically turns to burst with as tail out song penned by Rod Mc Keun entitled Seasons In The Sun .

Aussie films do not get much worse than this!!!

[mattrawley · 2/10 · 20 October 2006]

I was as excited as a child on Christmas Eve as I made my way to the Cinema to watch this brand new Australian 'Comedy'. All I can say was, whilst the 'actors' tried hard, and an honorable mention is given to 'Benny G' (played by Glenn Robbins), they failed to get more than a handful of laughs from the entire audience.

Constant errors in the dialog, strange and rather improbable plot structures and a lack of a genuine sense of humor ruined this film - one which had so much potential, and was bandied around the Australian television and radio airwaves as a potential Aussie classic.

The script was poor, and when a more humorous part of the film occurred, it was quickly wiped away by overkill. I came away struggling to find any positives from this film, which at only 88 minutes in duration, was hardly even one of those 'worth the money' experiences.

Give the film ago if you have nothing better to do with just under 1 and a half hours, otherwise, wait until it hits the local video store shelves, and gaze at the cover of something that could have been, should have been, but stumbled terribly short of the mark.

Great movie - loved it.

[peggylynn · 9/10 · 21 October 2006]

Fun movie with great lines. My boyfriend and I quite enjoyed it. It was really all one joke, but they didn't flog the horse too much.

Nice, light, fluffy stuff. Loved the songs and the fashion. Don't know what movie other people who've commented were watching. Did they expect Shakespeare? It probably could have been a neater plot/script, but we knew what kinda humour we were gonna get when we walked in the door. Maybe it was too subtle for some.

I thought the dry humour people were dropping on the sly was great. Australian comedies do have a particular style about them. Go Aussie cinema!

Double satire

[FieldCannotBeLeftBlank · 6/10 · 31 January 2023]

This movie is probably too subtle for its own good. Firstly it satirises boy-band/pop music, which is a fairly easy target, but it also satirises the very genre of 'getting the band back together' type films. Because it plays the cliches it satirises completely straight, at times it appears exactly like the bad movies it parodies. The performances are generally good and, given so earnestly in the face of deliberately cringeworthy dialogue and songs, are a subtle highlight. The predictable and extremely fantastic course the film takes sat somewhere between brilliant satire and mediocre plot development. Still, an enjoyable film with a little more going on than first appears.

What a waste

[RoddmannW · 1/10 · 17 June 2007]

The experience of watching Boytown left me as underwhelmed as I have possibly ever been in my movie-going lifetime. It's understandable if a film is simply poor, but when the talent on disposal here comes up with something as utterly dull as what we see on Boytown, the frustration soon turns to sheer hostility.

With a tremendous legacy to Australian comedy with his appearances on the The Late Show and on radio Mick Molloy appeared headed towards a promising movie career with the release of his first film Crackerjack, an enjoyable F.O.W romp with an outstanding ensemble cast and a handful of legitimate laugh-out-loud moments. If Boytown is anything to go by Molloy is already out of ideas as a writer and his performance on the screen (much like the rest of the cast) lacks energy and the chemistry that we should expect from a cast that includes Glenn Robbins, Bob Franklin and Wayne Hope, all of them veterans of the Australian comedy scene with many years of experience working together.

If there's anything to be taken from the film it's that a handful of the songs may bring a smile to your face, but Spinal Tap these guys ain't. If anything Molloy should have brought more of the silliness of the song lyrics to the script. Instead Boytown relies solely on it's silly premise while the performers actually appearing on screen are uninteresting and lifeless and ultimately unfunny. Wayne Hope is totally wasted as the butt of lame homosexual jokes while Glenn Robbins, one of the most talented comedic clowns in Australian television history is inexplicably one of the most boring straight men to play the lead in an Australian comedy in recent memory.

The biggest disappointment though is Molloy. That a guy of genuine talent can be content releasing uninspiring filth such as Boytown suggests he is careless, or worse, ran out of ideas on Crackerjack. At least it doesn't look like he's having too much fun on screen - I can't imagine how anyone watching could have any fun off it.

Australian Comedies Continues to Disappoint

[sonsofnoah · 2/10 · 19 October 2006]

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I was excited. Some of my all time favourite Aussie comedians in one film together, with an intriguing premise of a mature aged boy band. Unfortunately nothing is really built from this premise.

BoyTown comes out as a convoluted mess that can't decide on a style, with jokes and a 'story' that is predicable and the worst ending in film history. BoyTown jumps between being a normal film, a behind the music documentary, and a fly on the wall documentary which ends up only confusing the audience. The documentary parts either do nothing but tell us information that we already have and the fly on the wall documentary only serves to set up the joke for the films ending which is just slapped on leaving many things unresolved and was a poor excuse to think up a proper ending.

There really isn't much character development at all. Any evidence of a proper story is left for the last 20 minutes of the film and is so obvious that the audience knows exactly what is going to happen in the first ten minutes. The only laughable thing about this film is that the ffc funded such an unsatisfying stupid film whilst films like 'Kenny' have to struggle to find finance themselves. No wonder the Australian Film Industry gets such a bad rap with films like BoyTown.

A lot of fun

[heidiwooller · 7/10 · 2 June 2022]

Seriously, don't expect serious. It's supposed to entertain... and it does. In spades. Daftness and cringe factor - yes. Larrikinism- yes. Boy band reunited to middle aged man band - yes. Beautifully observed and wittily portrayed. What's not to like?

predictable under dog story

[nobbytatoes · 4/10 · 2 November 2006]

Back in the late eighties, before New Kids on the Block graced our ears, there was the boy band that started it all; BoyTown. Their stardom didn't last long, but paved way for every other boy band that follow. Since then, each member; Benny G, Tommy Boy, Bobby Mac, Carl and Corey split ways, with many stuck in ruts and jobs they loath. Benny G though has been stuck in the past, constantly thinking of his fame he once had. To relive these days, Benny wants to regroup the band to reclaim their title of the best boy band.

Australia has been expanding it's range of films being produced the past few years. Hard hitting dramas and stepping into the horror/thriller genre, yet a corner stone of the Australian film industry has been the under dog tale; the little guy taking on the big man. The Castle is a great example of this, but this constant retelling grew very thin. While time has past since a good under dog tale, does BoyTown turn the tide; no.

Mick Molloy struck a vein of freshness with Crackerjack; an under dog tale itself, yet mixed great comedy while nicely taking a stab at lawn bowls. Molloy slipped slightly with Bad Eggs, but slips even further here. That freshness he brought too Crackerjack has gone stale. Molloy, and his brother Richard, bring nothing new to the proceedings for a formulaic film; much too how they say boy bands are tired and repetitive.

BoyTown taps into the sexual innuendo created in mock-doc This is Spinal Tap. Dancing around singing about women's "Special time of the month" and "Pussywhipped" lack the laughs it aims. Spinal Tap had a knowing naivety, pelting out "Big Bottom", but McKean and Guest brought an innocence of 'we're just making music'. BoyTown miss the mirth and zeal, with songs that sound so meticulously made, just for a cheap laugh; manufactured to the last note.

The Molloy brothers don't delve deep into to bring some true great satire. The material was all there, boy bands are such easy targets, ripping out song after song of lost love and crooning over some woman, but drop the ball early on. Wayne Hope's play on the 'gay is he straight' member is boring for the get go, he should have injected more play and taken a cue from Bruce James's steward in Snakes on a Plane.

There is heart and a sweetness to BoyTown, but with every sentimental moment wrung to its extreme and nothing new brought, BoyTown will fade away like so many boy bands.

In a word: Disappointing.

[useless-14 · 5/10 · 6 November 2006]

I've been a huge fan of Mick Molloy ever since the old Late Show days. I listen to his radio show each day, and I even have a signed copy of The Brown Album. Crackerjack and Bad Eggs were both very funny movies, and so I've been looking forward to this one for a long time. Maybe that's why I was so disappointed? It's a real shame when you get so much comedic talent in a movie, both in front and behind the scenes, and yet the result really isn't all that funny. It sort of sits at a slight giggle level for the whole time, and only rarely gets any better than that. The highlight is the songs, which are all pretty well done. It's obvious that the songs were what they spent all their time writing, and then just fitted the movie in around them. The story is so basic, it all just happens with nothing really happening, and I know that makes no sense but it's just the way it is. It's like, lets get the band back together, OK the bands back together, now we'll make some records, OK we're done. And the ending? Well, it's kinda funny, and kinda weird. It makes sense, but it's sort of in a we-don't-know-how-to-end-it kinda way. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to watch it? Who knows. It's far from terrible, but far from good. Which means it's solidly average. There is far worse than this around, especially when you compare it to other recent Australian comedies, but the Molloy boys, and everyone else involved, can do a lot better than this.

Australian non-comedy

[lovepig · 1/10 · 5 November 2006]

All ironies aside of old entertainment has-beens making a film about being old entertainment has-beens, allot of Molloy's comedic magic pre-2002 seems to have gone walk-about in this epic tale of the original 90's boy band getting together to once again make it big.

The premise could have worked if the irreverence of Crackerjack had been carried through, but it seemed more like a cynical money-spinner with few genuine laughs (some great concepts) and a somewhat rushed story line - a little strange that in the first half hour Robbins convinced a bunch of people he apparently hadn't seen for years to drop whatever they were doing in their own lives and join his quest to live in the past.

If you're a fanboy of Molloy/Robbins, then there may be some value in this flick, but for pure entertainment value Boytown falls short. I in fact walked out of this after 40 minutes to catch a second screening of Children of Men in the cinema besides, the only thing keeping me from feeling ripped off.

Hard to fault

[rogerclementjones · 8/10 · 26 October 2006]

I'm not going to say anything much about plot and content - You should see it and I don't want to spoil a minute of it for you.

It's not often you see a movie you can't fault, but "Boytown" is one of them. Great premise, top writing and directing, well acted with the perfect comedy timing you'd expect from this group of Australian (OK, and British ex-pat) veterans. The songs for women of "their generation" had my wife and I rolling in the aisles.

It's a masterpiece of stereotype satire, and an interesting comment on what happens to rockers when they're closer to the rocking chair than the rocking cradle.

The ending was a surprise (although I had been warned by my son), but somehow it seemed like the best way to end and it neatly eliminated any prospect of the pathetic sequel so many American films seem to spawn. Go and see it, and don't listen to the negative reviews - they must have been watching some other movie of the same name.

Massive Molloy Misfire

[hughmilla14 · 3/10 · 21 October 2006]

Boytown, written by Mick and Richard Molloy tells the tale of a hugely popular fictional Australian 80's boy band, getting back together in 2006. It stars some of the cream of the crop of Australian comic talent including Wayne Hope, Glenn Robbins, Bob Franklin, Tony Martin and Mick Molloy himself.

When I heard about this movie some time ago, I was the first to admit, this idea has been done before many times, in sketch shows, and cleverly in a Cruel Sea video clip. So, how on earth was Molloy and his team going to sustain an 88 minute film based on one lousy idea? Well the answer is, that they don't.

Boytown is a poorly directed and even more atrociously written comedy without any funny dialogue or a hint of intelligence, it makes the average other Molloy outing, 'Crackerjack' look incredible in comparison. The worst sin this movie commits is somehow wasting the talent of the cast and not giving geniuses like Wayne Hope, Glenn Robbins and Bob Franklin a single funny line.

Sure, some of the songs are funny, but you get the impression the script is sometimes just a vehicle to showcase these songs. The movie is swamped in comic conservatism, there is not a single fresh idea or unpredictably clever scene; with the exception of an admittedly hilarious cameo from a Brazilian seductress. But any good work in the movie is undone by the ending which is frankly terrible and leads me to believe Mick hired a primary school kid to solve his case of writers block.

All in all, it was a bad idea, executed badly, with a fantastic cast that was badly wasted. However, its still a league above David Spade, Rob Schnieder, Adam Sandler and the gang and for that reason I will give it 3/10. For a funny Australian movie go no further than Bad Eggs or The Castle, or just buy the 3 seasons of the Micallef P(r)ogram(me).

A waste of time

[wildemaggie · 3/10 · 24 October 2006]

This was just flat out embarrassing. Mediocre beginning, silly middle, stupid ending.

May I have my money back, please?

I normally enjoy Glenn Robbins but I found him to be totally superficial in this film. And I expect much better from Mick Molloy.

You could see what few jokes there were coming from miles away.

I'm in the age demographic which made up the concert audiences screaming for Boytown and, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why those women were there. The song lyrics were juvenile and the tunes all sounded exactly the same.

I would have walked out of the arena; I should have walked out of the movie theatre.

If I were part of a boy band, I would sue everyone involved with the making of this movie.

Wash your hair instead

[traceyj-2 · 1/10 · 16 October 2006]

My partner and I won tickets to see the Sydney sneak preview so off we went last night (Monday 16th October)

Let me begin by saying 'that is 88 minutes of my life that I will never get back"

I was set to see a great Aussie flick; instead I found it mind numbingly boring, predictable 'comedy' (and I use that term lightly)

It was more of a reflection on a horde of has been 'comedians' (and I use that term lightly also) who have unceremoniously used their names and positions on radio stations around Australia to tout the movie as being the best thing since sliced bread…

Suggest you spend 88 minutes watching the grass grow than see this movie…

I think I would have enjoyed having my fingernails ripped off one by one followed by an acid bath more than that ghastly piece of 'Australian Film making'

Super pendulum

[margotjerry · 5/10 · 2 January 2022]

I waited a long time to watch this film. I did sit though it in one go without losing interest, but it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped. Here in the UK I've have been hearing Molloy, Robbins & co on streamed radio for years. They are grossly funny, but this film didn't match up to that level. The funniest part was Molloy's real-life banter with his young 'double' in the extras. And what a waste of Tony Martin. On the other hand, the songs were clever and memorable, Sally Phillips is always super, and I was impressed with Mick's penduluming.

better then the extra

[halleluja_lock_and_load · 10/10 · 24 March 2006]

Got the distinct opportunity to see this film in a little cinemarette in st kilda with the director, some of the cast and crew and a few of their friends.

I liked it, thought it was a nice Aussie comedy that we've come to expect from the likes of mick malloy and his bunch of merry men.

Extremely well directed, Kevin Carlin managed to make festival hall (seats maybe 5 thousand) look like a packed out arias event with 20 thousand people there going crazy for a band that doesn't exist.

And props to the extras for standing round all day like champions and not getting paid.

The film itself Had some bits that missed, but a lot of bits that hit as well and were laugh out loud funny.

Give it a go, it's better then the extra, but not quite crackerjack. Still a good laugh though.

A witty, enjoyable film

[casey27 · 8/10 · 21 October 2006]

Take an interesting, somewhat absurd concept and play it for all you can. This sums up the latest film from Mick Molloy's production company - and he does it well. It's good to see an Australian comedy veer away from the "loveable larrikin" and provide laughs (and tears) to entertain all ages.

Can we relieve the glory of our past? These five guys certainly try to do just that. Through trying to tap into the market for a middle-aged boy band, they learn what really matters to their fans, and more importantly, to themselves.

This film is thoroughly entertaining and well worth the admission price. See it, then tell your friends to see it...