With a strongly emotional tone, this low-key Australian coming-of-age drama is beautifully filmed and acted. Although it does lay on the nostalgia rather thickly.
Comment
09/14/07
December Boys (2007)
42 %
Reviews Counted: 62 Fresh: 26 Rotten:36 Average Rating: 5/10
Consensus:
Uneventful and far too sentimental.
Rated: 12A
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Theatrical Release: 14-09-2007
Synopsis: Based on the novel by Michael Noonan, DECEMBER BOYS is a touching coming-of-age drama set in Australia in the 1960s. Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers), and Spit (James Fraser) are four best friends who live in a Catholic orphanage, hoping to be adopted but... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Cormie, Christian Byers, James Fraser, Jack Thompson
Reviews
Rather drab, revolving as it does around the boys’ twin quests to get adopted and catch an oversized fish. Where’s Voldemort when you need him?
09/14/07
Well-intentioned, but teeth-grindingly earnest, with a voice-over that seems to consist entirely of clichés.
09/14/07
Top Critic
There is no magic in Daniel Radcliffe's first non-Potter movie: it's an incredible clunker: naff, sentimental, like an episode of the treacly US TV show The Wonder Years.
09/14/07
Top Critic
Even Enid Blyton’s toes would be curling tight enough to snap faced with a movie this winsome. Black marks all around – and back to Hogwarts with you, young Radcliffe.
09/14/07
Top Critic
Daniel Radcliffe indicates he may be able to shake off Harry Potter in this amiable little drama.
09/14/07
Top Critic
A warm, sentimental glow prevails at the end, while copious shots of rolling landscape offset the teatime-telly feel of veteran goggleboxer Rod Hardy’s direction.
09/14/07
With its series of tonally awkward plot developments which seem to have been engineered specifically to meet Radcliffe’s various portfolio needs, the best that could be said of this is that the actor’s next move should be to talk to his agent.
09/14/07
Top Critic
Crisply shot by cinematographer David Connell, the South Australian locations offer a nostalgic, golden glow to proceedings. Sadly, the characters inspire little sense of wonder.
09/14/07
Watchable, nostalgia-tinged drama with strong performances from its four leads, though it's not as emotionally engaging as it should have been.
09/13/07
Based on a novel by Michael Noonan, this sentimental tale of Australian orphans coming of age by the seaside has little to distinguish it except for the presence of Daniel Radcliffe.
09/11/07
Top Critic
More Sunday afternoon filler than cinema sensation, it’s a perfectly pleasant drama, but you’ll struggle to remember it the next day.
09/11/07
Top Critic
Fans and industry watchers who wonder whether Radcliffe has what it takes to turn his increasingly sophisticated performances in [Harry Potter] into a full-blown adult career as an actor... can see for themselves: the kid's got talent...
12/09/07
Radcliffe is good at showing vulnerability but without the skills to give it gradation. The magic doesn't work for him this time.
11/03/07
Director Rod Hardy adds some whimsical touches to an otherwise cliche-filled story, but the young orphans never emerge as full-blooded characters.
10/12/07
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