The Boys Are Back (2009)

A sports writer becomes a single parent in tragic circumstances.

Director:

Scott Hicks

Writers:

Simon Carr (novel), Allan Cubitt (adaptation)

Stars:

Clive Owen, Emma Booth, Laura Fraser

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clive Owen	...	Joe Warr
Emma Booth	...	Laura
Laura Fraser	...	Katy
George MacKay	...	Harry
Nicholas McAnulty	...	Artie
Julia Blake	...	Barbara
Chris Haywood	...	Tom
Erik Thomson	...	Digby
Natasha Little	...	Flick
Lewis Fitz-Gerald	...	Tim Walker
Nakia Pires	...	Lucy
Emma Lung	...	Mia
Steven Robertson	...	School Housemaster
Georgina Naidu	...	Paula
Daniel Carter	...	Digby & Paula's Child

Storyline

The Boys Are Back is a confessional tale of fatherhood. It follows a witty, wisecracking, action-oriented sportswriter who, in the wake of his wife's death, finds himself in a sudden, stultifying state of single parenthood. Joe Warr throws himself into the only child-rearing philosophy he thinks has a shot at bringing joy back into their lives: "just says yes." Raising two boys - a curious six year-old and a rebel teen from a previous marriage -- in a household devoid of feminine influence, and with a lack of rules, life becomes exuberant, instinctual, reckless... and on the constant verge of disaster. The three multi-generational boys of the Warr household, father and sons alike, must each find their own way, however tenuous, to grow up.

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Plot Keywords:

half brother | parenthood | single parent | australia | half brother half brother relationship | 

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Taglines:

Inspired by a true story.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual language and thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

BBC Films Hanway Films

Country:

Australia UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 2009 (Australia)

Also Known As:

De vuelta a la vida

Filming Locations:

Myponga Beach, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$49,342, 27 September 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$809,752, 8 November 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC),BBC Films,Hopscotch Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As director Scott Hicks began working closely with screenwriter Allan Cubitt, he found himself more and more swept up in the Carr family's unusual trek towards reconciliation. "It's a very personal story about people trying to reconnect with each another and about all these ingredients, love, loss, humor, which make up our everyday existence," said Hicks. "As a father, I couldn't help but identify with the situations and emotional conflicts, which made it very close to home."

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joe Warr: [narrating] I don't know whether you've ever seen a map of a person's mind. Doctors sometimes draw maps of other parts of you, and your own map can become intensely interesting. But catch them trying to draw a map of a child's mind, which is not only confused, but keeps going round all the time. There is zig-zag lines on it, just like your temperature on a card. And these are probably roads in the island, for the Neverland is always, more or less, an island.

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Connections

References Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

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Soundtracks

The Fix
Written by Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter, Pete Turner, Richard Jupp, Richard Hawley (Salvation Music/Unviersal Music Publishing MGB/Warner/Chappell Music Australia)
Performed by Elbow
Under exclusive license from Polydor (UK)
Licensed courtesy of Universal Music Australia

User Reviews

How not to raise children

This is one of the poorest movies I've seen - I'd no idea what it was about, but generally liked Clive Owen, so thought I'd rent it. It's the only film I can remember in which I actually yelled two or three times at the TV screen "End. END!" Owen plays the most Uriah Heepish parent I've ever seen. Extraordinarily passive - yet deceitful in many ways (Not least, as a top newspaper's sports editor who lies to all at work, and to the nation about covering the biggest international sporting event held in Australia each year - one can only hope he was fired, though there's an odd failure to mention the consequence).

I've never seen a parent apologize each time his child deserves punishment. Child throwing things? Apologize. Child hits him repeatedly in the head? Apologize. Child refuses to get in the car to go somewhere? Apologize. Child won't get up from having a tantrum on the floor in public? Apologize. Child wants to throw things in the house? Apologize. Child cries because he wants to swim instead of be in school? Apologize.

Say that you're deeply deeply sorry for every breath you take, every move you make - you get the idea.

This is a creepy movie - the parent abandoned his vows to God, his son and his spouse to be true until death - and is somehow not made to feel the terrible consequences of his abject despicable treatment of his spouse. Why did he leave her? "I got (this sexy babe) pregnant".

I constantly wished the worst for the protagonist - which I don't think the film intends.

I loathe this movie.