Andrew Robinson
Good Boys is produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who co-wrote 2007’s Superbad. While Superbad focuses on teenagers (portrayed by Michael Cera and Jonah Hill), Good Boys goes even younger… to the dreaded tween age. Written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky – who also directed the film – Good Boys stars Brady Noon (Thor) and Keith L. Williams (Lucas) along with the award-winning Jacob Tremblay (Max).
Summary
Three sixth-grade boys – Max, Lucas, and Thor – get invited to a kissing party, resulting in them deciding to skip school in order to learn how to kiss. Soon, they find themselves on a journey of a lifetime, involving accidentally-stolen drugs, two teenage girls, one tired cop, and a surprising amount of adult toys.
Analysis
On the surface, Good Boys is a raunchy R-rated comedy starring three tweens who curse up a storm and are hilariously ignorant to many adult things around them.
On a deeper level, however, the film is about friendship and growing up. As much as a person may want them to, things won’t always remain the same. People change as they grow older – kids, especially. It’s rare to find a friend in kindergarten that one stays best friends with through high school. Good Boys reminds of us this fact, thus forcing the viewer to reminisce in a surprisingly emotional way. The final act showcases this, providing unexpected emotional output from a film that had previously been about jokes, jokes, and more jokes. Here, Good Boys will hit the viewer right in the feels.
Back to the surface level, though, Good Boys is hilarious. Does it feature a few too many male genitalia jokes and adult toys? Probably.
Do the same genitalia jokes become just a bit stale by the end of the film? Yes.
But do tweens and teenagers say the same genitalia jokes time and time again after learning them, just as Max, Lucas, and Thor do in the film? That they do.
In this aspect, then, despite the jokes becoming a bit stale and overused by the end, Good Boys is realistic beyond measure. Kids tell the same overused R-rated jokes. It’s just what they do. Good Boys understands that.
Furthermore, it is clear that the boys get along off the set, which is a major necessity for a film featuring a group of best friends.
Noon is solid in the role of Thor, a kid who’s tired of being bullied, and thus tries to fulfill the “tough guy” role. Many viewers will be able to relate to Thor’s struggles in middle school, as well as his subsequent reactions to those struggles. Noon does a good job at bringing these feelings to life, forcing the viewer to remember their own angst and anxiety stemming from those pesky tween/teen years.
Williams is hilarious as Lucas, who wants to be good above all else. His conversations with his parents are brilliant, and some of his one-liners (a specific one that comes when Max suggests dropping drugs in the woods comes to mind) are hysterical. Williams’ ability to scream in a high-pitched voice is an asset to the film, which utilizes said ability multiple times. Lucas’ desire to be good makes for some hilarious moments, as well as some difficult decisions for the child. While Williams plays the role of “good boy” to an extreme, viewers will be able to relate to his character on some level. Lucas serves the role of peacemaker and rationalizer in the Beanbag Boys, and Williams makes sure that the audience knows it.
Tremblay is magnificent, as he is in everything he acts in. After giving unbelievable performances in movies such as Room and Wonder, the R-rated comedy is a venture in a different direction for the 12-year-old. From the very first scene of the film, it is clear that Tremblay has entered uncharted territory. He isn’t portraying an innocent child anymore – no longer is he the beautifully-different Auggie (Wonder) or the wide-eyed Jack (Room). Nope, now the 4’8″ Tremblay is portraying a Seth Rogen-created tween character who is learning about sex and drugs and his own changing self. Max is hilariously profane and hysterically unaware of the surroundings that he believes he understands.
Though it is clear at points that Tremblay is straining just a bit as he tries to enter R-rated comedic territory for the first time, his natural talent and charm makes up for the occasional difficulty. Tremblay is the best young actor in Hollywood. He proves that once again in Good Boys.
“We’re not kids. We’re tweens.” Boy, is that line relatable.
Max is very lovable and cute, as are Lucas and Thor, but he certainly isn’t innocent. Well, I suppose no 12-year-olds are innocent, as much as we want to believe they are.
Maybe that’s the point.
7/10
