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Movies / Upcoming / December Boys
December Boys

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December Boys (2007)

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43 %
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Reviews Counted:65

Fresh:28

Rotten:37

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: Uneventful and far too sentimental.

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

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

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Reviews for December Boys

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61 - 68 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The movie earns its right to sentiment through its performances and gentle solicitousness toward its young heroes.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
09/13/07
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday

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.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
09/13/07
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

Watchable, nostalgia-tinged drama with strong performances from its four leads, though it's not as emotionally engaging as it should have been.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/13/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Visually well-mounted but narratively muddled.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/13/07
Russell Edwards
Russell Edwards
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/11/07
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC

More Sunday afternoon filler than cinema sensation, it’s a perfectly pleasant drama, but you’ll struggle to remember it the next day.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/11/07
William Thomas
William Thomas
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
09/10/07
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

The film squanders its rich sense of adolescent discovery with an undercurrent of sexism and the uninteresting ebb and flow of water-logged metaphor.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
09/09/07
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
 
 
61 - 68 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4
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