The Boys Are Back

I have just finished watching a brilliant film.

It is called The Boys Are Back, and stars Clive Owen.

The film is set in Australia mostly - Southern Australia I think.

The setting is quite extraordinary - amazing vistas and sunsets as well as beautiful coastal shots.

It is about journalism (one tick), cars (two ticks), and real men (three ticks). When I say real men I mean men going about their lives, portrayed in a genuine way - in a way that men in real life actually live. (Know what I mean?)

I found it moving, funny (Owen is a sports writer and can't leave his kids so he writes about the Australian Open tennis from his house watching it on TV instead of being actually there), and quite uplifting.

The two boys in the film are excellent. The older one looks very much like Rubert Grint and I spent most of this film thinking it was him, but he's actually another very good actor - George MacKay.

He plays a 17 year old who is finding that stage between being a child and an adult quite difficult. But he has a firm friend in his younger step brother.

The younger boy really loves his brother, and that relationship is one of the best in the film. It really moved me at points.

*The main character - Owen - would certainly be classed as 'flawed', and so do be aware of that if you see it.

*The film does at one point go to England. This is a cue for rain, red buses, posh schools and English pubs. Please excuse its stereotyping, persist with the film regardless!

I didn't see this film advertised anywhere, so it may be that it only came out on DVD. But it is certainly worth a trip to HMV or Blockbuster for the experience.

This is a film that I massively enjoyed. Perfect? No. But excellently written characters, lovely scenery, good story and it certainly made for a lovely way to spend an hour and a half.

Adios.

P.s As I said on facebook - you may have to think of this as more of a monthly magazine column than a 'blink and you'll miss the next post' blog... :-)