Greetings again from the darkness. In this time of pandemic, we may not yet have a cure for the virus, but music video director Ninian Doff serves up his first feature film as a vaccine for those who have been stuck in the house for too long. It’s really a mash-up of comedy-horror-thriller-buddy film, with a dash or two of hip-hop and social satire. Mr. Doff also wrote the screenplay, and the film originally played SXSW under the title, “Boyz in the Wood.”
Three friends/delinquents from school are on the verge of expulsion, and their punishment is being sent on the Duke of Edinburg adventure, a program established in 1956 with the objective of getting kids out of the city and into the country. Dean Gibson (played by Rian Gordon) is the leader of the trio, while DJ Beatroot (Viraj Duneja) dreams of becoming a star hip-hop artist, and Duncan (Lewis Gribben) mostly creates chaos at every turn. They are joined on the trip by their personality opposite, Ian (Samuel Bottomley), a home-schooled boy who actually volunteered for the trip in hopes of padding his university application.
The Scottish Highlands serve as the life-sized game board where the boys take their wilderness trek. Substitute teacher Mr. Carlyle (Jonathan Aris) hands them a map and takes a picture of the group in front of a bulletin board filled with missing kid flyers. That’s just a taste of the humor that awaits. Ian is the only one treating the journey seriously, while the other three are wise-cracking, experimenting with drugs, and putting up with DJ Beatroot’s meanderings about his music “career”. At first, the boys are oblivious to the fact that they are being stalked (or hunted) by a couple of elites played by the always entertaining Eddie Izzard as The Duke, and his partner in crime (literally), Georgie Glen as The Duchess.
Simultaneous to this Highlands’ action, we are treated to a look inside the police station where Sergeant Morag (Kate Dickie) and PC Hamish (Kevin Guthrie) generate some laughs with their excitement over hip-hop terrorist zombies in their area. They find this significantly more intriguing than “the bread thief” which was previously the number one crime to solve. At times, it’s difficult to know which group is the most talented at bumbling – the boys, the rich hunters, or the police.
The Duke of Edinburg award is earned by combining “Teamwork, Orienteering, and Foraging.” For this group of boys, it also involves drugs, hip-hop, and staying alive. Director Doff infuses a zany absurdity to the action, and with some of the set ups, he perhaps could have even gone further – although the bits on rabbit pellets and a fork as a weapon are to be admired. One of the songs drags on a bit too long, but mostly the creativity is fun to watch, as is the collision of teenage group dynamics, the generational clash, and the social commentary. The film is in the mode of some of Edgar Wright’s best work, so if that’s your style, you’ll find this a treat.
Available August 28, 2020 on Amazon Prime
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