December Boys (2007)

One summer, four orphans boys who have grown to be the closest of friends find themselves competing for the attention of the same family.

Director:

Rod Hardy

Writers:

Ronald Kinnoch (story), Michael Noonan (novel)

Stars:

Daniel Radcliffe, Teresa Palmer, Lee Cormie

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Radcliffe	...	Maps
Lee Cormie	...	Misty
Christian Byers	...	Sparks
James Fraser	...	Spit
Jack Thompson	...	Bandy
Teresa Palmer	...	Lucy
Sullivan Stapleton	...	Fearless
Victoria Hill	...	Teresa
Max Cullen	...	Narrator / Adult Misty
Kris McQuade	...	Mrs. McAnsh
Ralph Cotterill	...	Shellback
Frank Gallacher	...	Father Scully
Paul Blackwell	...	Watson
Judi Farr	...	Reverend Mother
Carmel Johnson	...	Sister Beatrice

Storyline

An adult nicknamed Misty is narrating a story about one summer in his life when he was an adolescent in the late 1960s. He was living in a Catholic orphanage in the Australian outback. His best mates were the "December boys" - Maps, Spark and Spit - the four of them so named because they were the boys in the orphanage born in the month of December. With a recent windfall, the orphanage decided to give each of the boys a group vacation for each of their birthdays, the December boys the first to go. Their vacation was to Lady Star Cove on the Australian coast, to stay at the home of Mrs. and Mrs. McAnsh - Bandy and "Skipper". Their relatively carefree Christmas vacation took a turn primarily from three events: learning the reason the McAnshes hosted the boys specifically at this time; Maps, the oldest in his mid-teens, exploring his sexuality with a girl named Lucy, who was also visiting Lady Star Cove for the summer; and Misty secretly learning that a young couple in the cove, Fearless...

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Plot Keywords:

orphan | outback | south australia | terminal illness | teenage girl | 

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Taglines:

Daniel Radcliffe of the Harry Potter film series tests the bonds of friendship and family.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity, underage drinking and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Impact Services Official Site 2 [UK]

Country:

Australia Germany USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

20 September 2007 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Un verano para toda la vida

Filming Locations:

Clayton Bay, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,810, 16 September 2007

Gross USA:

$50,715

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,175,579

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Becker Group, Best FX (Boom Sound)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was over a decade or ten years prior to the film being made and released that producer Richard Becker bought the film rights to Michael Noonan's novel 'December Boys' (1963). Becker said that he had always enjoyed stories about humanity, friendship and love, and that he was very moved by the story of these four orphan boys: "I think everyone has a summer they can remember where they suddenly grew up, where the journey was particularly profound, where meaningful things happened. That's what I read in this story and that was its appeal. I wasn't an orphan and I certainly didn't experience some of the things that they boys went through, but it still resonated with me."

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Goofs

(at around 22 mins) The vehicle is shown driving down the right hand side of the road whereas Australia requires driving on the left side.

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Quotes

Maps: Just remember Misty, no matter what, you're still a December boy.

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Connections

Featured in South Australian Film Corporation 40th Anniversary Showreel (2012)

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Soundtracks

Spirit in the Sky
Written and performed by Norman Greenbaum

User Reviews

A Special Something Makes It Work

December Boys is an overly sentimental and cliché ridden tale, but it has a special something that makes it work. That something is the engaging performances of the two major boys - Daniel Radcliffe and Lee Cormie.

The action takes place during a Christmas holiday of the late 60's or early 70's in Australia. The December boys are four boys from an outback orphanage whose birthdays fall in December. They are given a treat of a vacation at the shore provided by an older couple.

The four are three pre-adolescents - Sparks, Spit, and Misty (Cormie) - and one older boy who acts as the big brother of the younger three. He is Maps, played by Radcliffe. The story is told by Misty as an adult and contains many, probably mis-remembered, events of that eventful vacation.

The boys are hosted by an older couple with the man being played by Jack Thompson as Bandy. This is a bare-bones part, and Thompson's considerable talents are wasted. Bandy's wife is ill with cancer, and there are some interesting scenes of interactions with the boys but the couple plays a very small role in the whole thing.

The vacation cabin is in a small cove accompanied by several others, and the inhabitants of these neighboring cabins provide a number of interesting characters. The most interesting to the boys is a young, childless couple. They are seen as potential parents by the boys, and the three younger ones compete in a battle for their attention - led by Misty.

Maps is far more interested in a local teenage girl with whom he develops an intimate relationship. Because Radcliffe became famous as Harry Potter, Russell Edwards of Variety sarcastically states, "Destined to be forever known as Harry Potter Gets Laid…," but I saw much more in Radcliffe's portrayal of a teenager's first love. His performance is richly affecting.

December Boys is an entertaining combination of the vacation adventures and fantasies of four boys coupled with that longing purity of first love. It's not a great movie, but it gives the viewer a good feeling and gives this viewer some memories and emotions of times long passed.