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closeThursday, Oct. 08, 2009
'The Boys Are Back’ shows off a different side of Clive
Miramax Films
FAMILY MEN: From left, George MacKay, Clive Owen and Nicholas McAnulty in The Boys Are Back Miramax Films
The Boys Are Back
***
PG-13 (sexual material, thematic elements); 104 min.
The Clive Owen persona is not one that exudes vulnerability. From Croupier to Shoot ’Em Up, The International to Duplicity, he’s usually suave and dashing, seasoned with just a hint of danger.
While Children of Men showed off Owen’s more emotional side, its bleak futurism and his character’s heroism still distanced him from being the average dad-next-door with everyday worries. All that changes in The Boys Are Back, a handsomely made, affecting drama about a father raising two sons alone after his second wife dies.
Based on a memoir by Simon Carr and directed by Scott Hicks (Shine, Snow Falling on Cedars), The Boys Are Back takes place in Adelaide, Australia, where Joe Warr (Owen) is a sportswriter for the local paper — and apparently a very successful one judging from his rustic yet picturesque house set on what appears to be several acres.
He’s married to beautiful Katy (Laura Fraser) and has a charming 5-year-old son, Artie (Nicholas McAnulty). An older son, Harry (George MacKay), lives with Warr’s first wife in England, but other than that, all seems perfect in Warr’s world. That is, until Katy succumbs to cancer and Warr is forced to rebuild his life and family.
The Boys Are Back isn’t revolutionary in any way. It tells a straightforward story with few surprises.
Still, it manages to veer from touching to humorous (Warr has some rather unconventional parenting techniques) without being overly mawkish, and the sumptuous cinematography by Greig Fraser is perhaps the best commercial ever for South Australia.
More than anything, though, The Boys Are Back gives audiences a new view of Owen, one that doesn’t involve guns, intrigue or snarky one-liners. And they’ll probably like what they see.
— Cary Darling
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