Review of Boys

Introduction

Doesn`t the DVD summary above appear, at the very least, intriguing? Forget for the moment that the only thing I remember Winona Ryder for is shoplifting, and I vaguely remember she did some acting. Nothing particularly outstanding, but she appeared in the odd good film. Apart from The Age of Innocence, my mind remains blank as to what else she`s done that I`ve enjoyed. I don`t think Boys will be in that shortlist…

Video

Presented with a 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced video transfer, Boys looks in good shape. Colours are well balanced, as is the detail and I couldn`t spot any defects apart from the usual tiny marks of dust.

Audio

Nothing more than an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack in play and it`s serviceable. The dialogue is clear from the centre while the rest of the sound comes from the front. There`s a fair amount of licensed music in the film, which was a surprise, and it all sounds good in plain stereo.

Features

No Extras. There are English, French, Dutch and Spanish subtitles.

Conclusion

Films are made for a variety of reasons, but I`ll be the first to admit that I`m still wandering in the wilderness as to why Boys was made; I don`t see the point of the film, even as entertainment because it certainly fails on that count. A coming of age tale or perhaps one of sexual awakening, who knows? I bet the actors don`t; watching the film a second time for review is a dull experience and a waste of time.

Winona Ryder is bored and it shows (her boredom gives me boredom). Her leading beau, John Baker (Lukas Haas), who I last saw in Witness with Harrison Ford, doesn`t exactly have the best material to work with and just comes across as plain awkward. The other prep school teenagers act as teenagers and as far as I can tell they all act the same.

A story of a mysterious girl and dark past can be so much more than what Boys is. The story starts with the mystery of what Winona Ryder`s escaping from and we live this through flashback. However, the way this is cut with the present day, without any real connection to present events, other than a recalled memory, just seems like a cop out. The story is slow too with the ensuing romantic exploration between Ryder and schoolboy Haas being a dull affair. It takes the film a long time to unravel the events of Ryder`s connection with a missing baseball player, that when we eventually get there it becomes anti-climactic. This is a kind of drama of the uber-slow burning kind where there`s scarcely a flicker of interest.

Something perked the film up, the music. However, this is incidental because it`s the amount of licensed music in the film (about 30 when counted in the end credits, but it`s really not worth the time to name any). The music always seemed to push the film along and wake me, rather than compliment the storytelling. With a running time of 83-minutes, Boys really was a case of 83-minutes too long. Not one of Winona`s better films and certainly not worth entertaining yourself with, even for free.