Movie Review: ‘Good Boys’ Blu-ray

Review by James Lindorf

The latest Hollywood wunderkind, 12-year-old Jacob Tremblay, is back for his 12th feature film. This time he is the leader of the “bean bag boys” in Director Gene Stupnitsky’s Good Boys. Max (Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams), and Thor (Brady Noon) are looking to thrive in a world of judgment, bullies, and changes, better known as the sixth grade. To make it to their first kissing party, the boys will have to ditch school and go on an epic journey filled with angry teenage girls, stolen drugs, fed up cops, and questionable internet contacts. Good Boys also stars Molly Gordon (Life of the Party), Midori Francis (Ocean’s Eight), Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth), Retta (Parks and Recreation), and Lil Rel Howery (Get Out). Before they spend the rest of their teen years in timeout.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the producing team behind Neighbors, Sausage Party and many other projects, tapped friends Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky to write and direct their latest project. Good Boys is the first feature film to be written and directed by Stupnitsky, and the second film written by Eisenberg (Bad Teacher.) The pair each have comedy writing and directing experience form their time working on The Office. They transferred the absurdity of that show to this film, pumped up the vulgarity, and created the funniest movie of 2019, so far. Part of the humor lies solely in who is delivering the lines and performing the actions because we all hope kids aren’t doing and saying these things in real life.

Eisenberg and Stupnitsky did a great job writing relatable characters and crafting jokes and situations that could only be told by kids. They also embrace the changing landscape of relationships. These are the first group of kids growing up in an era with an increased focus on the need for consent and respecting women as equals.  A more subtle running gag throughout the film plays on the kids’ innocence and lack of understanding, while they try and act like they know it all. The style of the jokes are limited, but they are twisted just enough that they continue to be funny. However, for some, it could hurt the film on repeat viewings.

Stupnitsky’s inexperience comes through in the film’s uneven tone. The movie flies by for the first 70 minutes with one shocking, laugh-out-loud moment after another. Unfortunately, it hits a speedbump when the message and drama kick in full force and begins to balance the humor and sentimentality swiftly. There are still many amusing moments over the final 25 minutes, but the tone is very different from the first three-quarters of the film. Luckily, the change in direction isn’t enough to overwhelm all the goodwill that was earned to this point.  

Movies that feature kids who spend their lives on the fringe, struggling to break free from anonymity while maintaining established friendships, could be the next big trend in comedy. In 2007 Superbad explored male friendship near the end of high school while taking its characters on a grand R-rated adventure. Earlier this year, the same was done from the perspective of a teen girl with the critical hit, Booksmart. At the box office, each of these movies earned over 4 times their production budget, and there is nothing Hollywood studios love more than a high return on investment. While it is too early to speculate on the box office performance of Good Boys, its strong rotten tomatoes score, shocking humor and relatable characters give it a shot to be the comedy hit of the summer.