Up to a certain age, kids can say or do anything and we think it’s cute and funny. That’s why Good Boys is a good time, but there’s a ton more to misbehaving than this. And be prepared to be caught off guard at first when you hear the F word come out of Jacob Tremblay‘s (Room, Wonder) mouth. It’s funny and mortifying at the same time, but you get used to it fast.
The fusion of innocence and adorability with curse words and filthy thoughts certainly causes laughter; but through the tween highjinks, there’s a paper thin plot holding the young actors in place rather than letting them run wild. As first-time movie director Gene Stupnitsky attempts to sell us on awkward raunchiness – the most appealing aspect is the beauty of friendship and the unavoidable shifts it goes through while growing up. The changes they are dealing with are changes that happen to us all.
The mischief and inappropriateness starts in a hurry for a tight-knit trio of middle-schoolers named Max (Tremblay), Thor (Brady Noon), and Lucas (Keith L. Williams). Max gets an invite to a party where a game of Spin the Bottle is going down. Puckering up and laying one on Brixiee (Millie Davis) would be a dream come true for him. Now the only thing left for Max to do is learn how to kiss.
Looking up porn and practicing on one of their parent’s sex dolls each seem like great ideas to get pointers. But the worst of them is Max using his dad’s (Will Forte) drone to spy on a couple making out across the street. The drone is off limits and they’re in deep doo-doo when it comes crashing down. It’s one bad decision after another – like stealing drugs from two teenage girls (Molly Gordon and Midori Francis) and confessing their sins to a cop – as the boys race to replace the drone and get to that epic smooching shindig.
Good Boys has the right kind of energy for a childish comedy, there’s just not enough of it. Once the shock of kids saying the darndest things wears off, the rest isn’t exactly a rejuvenating look at curious youngsters in a rush to be men. Regardless, the performances from Tremblay, Noon, and Williams (a hilarious standout with the best lines) are fantastic, their precious adolescent brotherhood is why we never give up on them.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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