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Movies / On DVD / Boy A
Boy A

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Boy A (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 53

Fresh: 47

Rotten:6

Average Rating: 7.5/10

Consensus: Small in scale but large in impact, Boy A's career making performances (particularly that by star Andrew Garfield) and carefully crafted characters defy judgment and aggressively provoke debate.

Rated: R

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release: Jul 23, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Bright futures are undercut by dark pasts in BOY A, a quiet, ruminative tale about a violent act committed by a man in his tormented youth, and his haunting inability to find a way to have a peaceful adulthood years later. Fresh out of a 14-year... Bright futures are undercut by dark pasts in BOY A, a quiet, ruminative tale about a violent act committed by a man in his tormented youth, and his haunting inability to find a way to have a peaceful adulthood years later. Fresh out of a 14-year prison sentence, 24-year-old Jack (Andrew Garfield) arrives in Manchester looking for a new start. He has a new name, a new job, and a carefully sealed criminal record, but an entire boyhood spent behind bars has left him permanently looking over his shoulder. Guided by his fatherly caseworker, Terry (Peter Mullan), Jack attempts to forge meaningful ties with a local girl and a chatty co-worker, but what happiness he finds is challenged when his true identity seeps (and then floods) through the cracks of his new façade. Directed with claustrophobic flair by John Crowley (INTERMISSION), BOY A unfolds in tight hallways and on narrow roads; for Jack, even in freedom, every room's a prison. As the story of Jack's new life moves forward, sharply lit flashbacks continually offer new details of his childhood crime. The backward glances work as both a compelling narrative technique and a glimpse into Jack's conscience (and the viewer's); the harsh reminder of his former self seem to play endlessly in his mind, impossible to reconcile with the gentle, introspective adult he longs to become. [More]

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Shaun Evans, Siobhan Finneran

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Shaun Evans, Siobhan Finneran, Katie Lyons, Jeremy Swift, James Young

Director: John Crowley

Director: John Crowley
Screenwriter: Mark O'Rowe
Producer: Nick Marston, Tally Garner, Lynn Horsford
Composer: Paddy Cunneen
Studio: Weinstein Company

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DVD Info

 
 
 
 
Release:

Oct 7, 2008

No Details Exist

Reviews for Boy A

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Ratings Image

The material is thought-provoking and features some very good performances.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/23/08
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image

The limits of redemption and forgiveness get challenged ruthlessly in this haunting drama...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
10/21/08
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
Ratings Image

Efficiently directed by John Crowley, Boy A avoids exploitation while never soft-selling its thorny subject matter.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
10/17/08
Stan Hall
Oregonian
Ratings Image

The genius of Garfield's performance is that he fills him with equal amounts of terror and wonder.

Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | comment Comment
09/19/08
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun
Ratings Image

This is a brutally honest story that pulls no punches. It excels at everything from the directing and acting to the editing and photography. A stunning achievement

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
09/16/08
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine
Ratings Image

It makes us feel sympathy for the devil.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment 2 Comments
09/12/08
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle
Ratings Image

Garfield is definitely an actor to watch, but prepare yourself for the disappointing ending.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
09/05/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ratings Image

Director John Crowley, a veteran Irish theater director now working in film, is deliberate with every last element of his film.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
09/05/08
Christy DeSmith
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Ratings Image

It's a sad movie, no question -- but like most great drama, it inspires admiration for its thoughtfulness and its craft.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
09/02/08
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
Ratings Image

Boy A is the kind of movie that falls victim to the new role of multiplex as babysitter of teenagers. Its life in the theatres will be short, but for the few that find it now it will be worth it.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
08/29/08
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies
Ratings Image

Even its structurally weaker moments give Garfield an opportunity to expand on Jack's physical and mental dislocation. Given Boy A's final floating reel, it's an anchoring performance in every sense of the word.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
08/29/08
Kamal Al-Solaylee
Globe and Mail
Ratings Image

The new British film 'Boy A' poses a question that is easy to ask but nearly impossible to answer: Can we ever really escape from our own misdeeds?

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/25/08
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

His sophomore feature, Boy A explores bleak territory but its insistence on not tying everything up in neat little bows is to be commended.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
08/23/08
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image

The movie is taut with suspense but culminates in wise resignation as the hero comes to understand he's running from a part of himself.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
08/12/08
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Ratings Image

Crowley gets a remarkable performance from Andrew Garfield: his Jack is a person who carries guilt with him even when he is trying to override it.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
08/11/08
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Ratings Image

Boy A is one of those rare movies that takes the idea of rehabilitation seriously. In the end, it may present a worst-case scenario, but it does so with unusual depth and conviction.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
08/08/08
John Hartl
Seattle Times
Ratings Image

In tandem, the director and screenwriter build up a palpable suspense. Boy A will rivet you while raising issues about forgiveness and just who deserves it.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
08/08/08
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle
Ratings Image

Along with Garfield and the splendid Scottish actor Mullan, Crowley brings great tact to this bruising saga of atonement and moral regeneration. Though a bad seed can bring forth good fruit, will others want to pick it?

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
08/08/08
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
Ratings Image

There are some gaps in the movie's reality, and some O. Henry-like contrivances, but the masterful trick Boy A plays on viewers is to get them to care before giving them reasons not to.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
08/08/08
Tom Maurstad
Dallas Morning News
Ratings Image

We're introduced to more string-pulling symbolism than a movie this inherently sad ever needs. It's too much.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
08/08/08
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Boy A

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This week at the movies, we learn that the truth is out there (The X-Files: I Want to Believe, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) and that step-sibling rivalry can be... More...

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Related Forums for Boy A

REEL_REVIEWER
(Tribeca/2008 USA release)-John Crowley's BOY A opens in NYC & LA this week!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/24


REEL_REVIEWER
(Tribeca/2008 USA release)-John Crowley's BOY A opens in NYC & LA this week!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/24


REEL_REVIEWER
(Tribeca/2008 USA release)-John Crowley's BOY A opens in NYC & LA this week!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/24


REEL_REVIEWER
(Tribeca/2008 USA release)-John Crowley's BOY A opens in NYC & LA this week!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/24


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Best film of 08'
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