By Ben Davis
2019 has been a strange year for straightforward comedies. Critically, the response to such films like Long Shot and Booksmart have been outstanding (sitting at 81% and 97% on Rotten Tomatoes respectively), however, the financial success of these films haven’t been quite as impressive (earning 52.1 million and 23.6 million). It’s very odd to see such films be so good and seemingly so crowd-pleasing (in particular for me, Long Shot) and not do nearly as well as they deserve.
A film has finally come along that I think will shift the tide with Good Boys: a raunchy tween (yes, I said tween) sex comedy that takes our protagonists, Max, Lucas, and Thor (played by Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, and Brandy Noon), on a precarious journey as they embark to get their first kiss. Look, if I’m being completely honest I’ve grown quite stagnant on coming-of-age movies recently. I find most characters to feel the same with unrealistically witty banter that makes the characters come across as if they’ve been written by 30 year olds who think they know how kids act. What makes Good Boys stand out from the pack is the fact that the characters of Max, Lucas, and Thor feel like real twelve year olds, each being relatable in their own way while also maintaining their own respective identities with their own hobbies that make them seem unique and not like clichéd versions of the same characters. This left me feeling so pleasantly surprised in the movie theater because it felt very refreshing.
Good Boys also packs a tremendous amount of heart within all the humor. They could have gone for the easy gross-out laugh every time—and they’re still there—but what they were successfully able to do was make some very surprisingly relatable emotional themes such as growing older, growing apart, maturing differently, and growing into your own skin. These themes make the film seem grounded amongst all the crazy shenanigans going on.
Another big take away from Good Boys is how the young actors act like real middle-school aged kids. They curse, they swear, and they speak with the confidence of someone who knows what they’re doing, yet, they’re still very naïve to the situations going on around them. To me, that’s one of my favorite aspects of the film. I often notice in films that portray pubescent boys that they play up the “dumb” factor. I’ve always found that to be disingenuous, as it goes back to my aforementioned point that all characters feel the same (not to mention insulting). Good Boys avoids this by making the kids naïve, but aware of the situations going on around them. It’s what makes Good Boys stand out and feel special.
If I had one complaint about Good Boys, it’s that some of the direction style feels a bit frenetic in the sense that it can sometimes feel like they’re jumping from scene to scene rather than having a natural flow. This can be a bit jolting at times, but the movie is able to overcome this issue due to just how laugh-out-loud hilarious it is.
In conclusion, I found Good Boys to be hilarious, sweet, charming, and packed with tons of heart. Its messages of growing out of your shell, yet being true to who you are really resonated with and gave the movie its emotional core. To me, this is without a doubt the funniest movie of 2019.
Grade: A