‘Good Boys’ Pleases With Raunchy Innocence (Movie Review)
Good Boys for me is just one of those moments in life when you watch a trailer, it reminds you of a blast from the past (in this case Superbad) and you say why not. Why not refers to the fact that it appears like you could have a fun time with this one. It may be hard to relate to the age of the main characters, but make no mistake we’re all coming to see this one for the profane humor and raunchiness of it all. Can you blame us? After all, Seth Rogen is kind of responsible for this. So follow me down below and will take a look at Good Boys, which you can warmly call a more innocent reboot of Superbad…with of course a much younger cast.
Good Boys may not officially come out until this Friday, but just in case you didn’t know it already made its debut at SXSW earlier this year. The film was co-written and directed by Gene Stupnitsky, which marks his directorial debut here. It stars three main boys, Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon and Keith L. Williams, as sixth graders who seek out to impress girls (of course) and their classmates through their daring actions and wild shenanigans. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg serve as producers here. Retta, Will Forte, Lil Rel Howery and more round out the rest of the supporting “class” (no pun intended on the class part).
Like all good stories this one’s about a boy and girl. Okay so no real surprises there. I completely get that. However, what does a drone and learning how to kiss have in common? In Good Boys it means everything! Let’s not put the cart in front of the horse though. Let’s rewind a bit. This story is all about our three boys, Max (Tremblay), Thor (Noon) and Lucas (Williams). They are known as the Bean Bag Boys (don’t ask) and sadly don’t exactly fit the ideal mold in the sixth grade. I would say out of the three Max is the most liked by others. His appeal is exactly how he landed an invite to his first kissing party, which he was given approval to bring his friends too. The only problem is none of the three boys know how to kiss, hence the drone.
You see a drone comes in handy when your next door neighbor is known to be a nymphomaniac. No that doesn’t mean they fall asleep a lot, but instead have sex on land and water. Ha! I love that line, but I digress. The boys decide to use Max’s dad’s drone, which he was explicitly given directions not to ever touch. They obviously plan on using it to spy on their neighbor making out. Needless to say things go awry with their plan and the drone well it goes missing in action. As a result the boys are forced to skip school to find the drone, run from the cops, smuggle drugs, cross the freeway like Frogger, paintball a fraternity and so much more.
In many ways, and to be expected, Good Boys is very much the coming of age story like Superbad was, but with a tad more innocence due to the super young age of the guys. It’s super hard for me to relate to the young boys because of the age difference thing, but the raunchy comedy and vulgarity win me over. Furthermore, the sweet, tender story of it all is just the icing on the cake (complete with a cute CPR doll too). Underneath the vulgarity of the comedic antics and language there really is a heartwarming tale of growing up here and the difficulties of trying to fit in with the “it” crowd. I can definitely relate to that being the small geek I was at that age. One thing for sure is I had a sudden craving to watch Rock of Ages, but I completely digress there. You’ll get that one when you see it.
If I had one complaint, it would ironically be of the comedy. There was never one really over-the-top defining moment. It was all pretty tame, flat and consistent throughout. Not that’s there’s anything wrong with it, but for me when you’re talking great comedy movies there’s always those one or two moments you’ll never forget. In Good Boys, the ride is wild and breezy and the relatable story wins you over, but oddly its ultimately forgettable in the end (for me). I do encourage viewing the film, but not so sure I would have that much replay value out of it (despite my warm score). Your mileage may vary, but I’m erring on the side of caution here that you’ll love these three little boys…that is as long as you don’t mind the endless F-bombs, sexual debauchery and more. I mean who doesn’t love all that? Ha ha. Enjoy!
