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The middle school years tend to be a time of transition—and a whole lot of awkwardness. But, for most of us, those years weren’t nearly as awkward as they are for the three boys in the R-rated comedy Good Boys.
Good Boys follows three sixth-grade boys in their quest to be more mature. When Max (Jacob Tremblay) is invited to a popular boy’s party, he’s sure that it’s his chance to talk to the love of his life, Brixlee (Millie Davis). But when he and his best friends, Thor and Lucas (Brady Noon and Keith L. Williams), crash his dad’s drone, he knows he’ll be grounded once his dad finds out. So, with a couple of teenage girls on their tail and the girls’ drugs in their backpack, they ditch school and set out to replace the drone and get to the party.
As the boys race around town on their quest to hang out with the cool guys and the cute girls, their adventures are anything but kid-friendly. They may look sweet an innocent, but their language definitely doesn’t match their cute baby faces. Still, instead of going all-out to shock audiences with a movie about a bunch of foul-mouthed kids who act more like drunken frat boys than 12-year-old kids, Good Boys is a movie about a trio of lovably naïve boys who think they’re way more grown up than they really are—and that puts them into all kinds of uncomfortable situations.
While Max is desperate to get to the party, so he can kiss the girl who’s destined to become his wife, sweet, innocent Lucas is mostly just heartbroken about the news that his parents are divorcing. And Thor loves nothing more than musical theater, but peer pressure is pushing him to ditch try-outs and drink beer instead—to prove that he’s not a baby. Throughout this rambling, meandering comedy, all three boys are struggling to come to terms with the changes they’re going through—the changing interests and personalities that are causing the tight-knit trio to grow apart. And while they may get into all kinds of outrageous adventures on their quest—and they may talk big—most of the humor here comes from their naiveté about the grown-up world around them.
If you’re expecting a movie with a group of young kids acting like adults, you’ll be disappointed. Despite their grown-up language, these kids are surprisingly lovable—and adorably clueless. But their wild antics will keep audiences laughing.
Granted, Good Boys isn’t a strong, cohesive film—and it isn’t the outrageous hard-R comedy that some people might expect. But the cute characters and their wild adventures make it worth a look.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
