The movie earns its right to sentiment through its performances and gentle solicitousness toward its young heroes.
December Boys (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:65
Fresh:28
Rotten:37
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: Uneventful and far too sentimental.
Synopsis: Based on the novel by Michael Noonan, DECEMBER BOYS is a touching coming-of-age drama set in Australia in the 1960s. Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers), and Spit... Based on the novel by Michael Noonan, DECEMBER BOYS is a touching coming-of-age drama set in Australia in the 1960s. Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers), and Spit (James Fraser) are four best friends who live in a Catholic orphanage, hoping to be adopted but learning that dreams don't come true--and adults often let kids down. Because they were all born in December, they are the first group of boys who get to travel to a small cove and stay with an older couple, Bandy (Jack Thompson) and Skipper (Kris McQuade), two of the orphanage's benefactors who have offered to house the kids during the Christmas season. Once off on this rare vacation, the boys play in the sand and water, eat well, ride on a motorcycle, go to a carnival, and experience other new and exciting things as they quickly learn that there is more to the world than they ever imagined--and they get to meet some very strange characters in the process. But when Misty overhears that Teresa (Victoria Hill) and her husband, Fearless (Sullivan Stapleton), are considering adopting one of them, the battle is on--except for Maps, who is older than the others and instead spends his time with Lucy (Teresa Palmer), experiencing his first romance. Filmed in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island and directed by longtime television veteran Rod Hardy, DECEMBER BOYS features beautiful locations, a talented cast, and a terrific soundtrack, including period songs by Norman Greenbaum ("Spirit in the Sky"), the Easybeats ("Friday on My Mind"), and Creedence Clearwater Revival ("Who'll Stop the Rain"). [More]
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Cormie, Christian Byers, James Fraser
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Cormie, Christian Byers, James Fraser, Jack Thompson
Director: Rod Hardy
Director: Rod Hardy
Screenwriter: Marc Rosenberg
Producer: Richard Becker
Composer: Carlo Giacco
Studio: Warner Independent
Reviews for December Boys
An unavoidable chorus of "ho-hum" starts up in your brain as the film begins. It's nothing you haven't seen a dozen or more times before.
Watchable, nostalgia-tinged drama with strong performances from its four leads, though it's not as emotionally engaging as it should have been.
Based on a novel by Michael Noonan, this sentimental tale of Australian orphans coming of age by the seaside has little to distinguish it except for the presence of Daniel Radcliffe.
More Sunday afternoon filler than cinema sensation, it’s a perfectly pleasant drama, but you’ll struggle to remember it the next day.
The absence of a seasoned lead figure is a decisive flaw, with the same to be said about the writing. The religious inserts only make it blasphemous to the gods of cinema.
The film squanders its rich sense of adolescent discovery with an undercurrent of sexism and the uninteresting ebb and flow of water-logged metaphor.
Latest News for December Boys
December 11, 2007:
RT on DVD: Take Harry Potter, Jason Bourne Home for the Holidays
This week, get Bourne (The Bourne Ultimatum) -- or get Potter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), or Efron (High School Musical 2), or opt for a different sort of... More...
September 16, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Jodie Struggles But Still Hits #1
For the second straight weekend, a star-driven action drama aimed at adult audiences opened at number one with $14M in ticket sales from roughly 2,700 theaters. This time it was... More...
September 13, 2007:
Critical Consensus: Brave One Isn't Tops, Mr. Woodcock is Flaccid, Hunting Party is Busted
This week at the movies, we've got vigilantes (The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster), gym teachers (Mr. Woodcock starring Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon), war... More...
August 25, 2007:
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