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Movies / On DVD / December Boys
December Boys

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December Boys (2007)

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Reviews Counted:65

Fresh:28

Rotten:37

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: Uneventful and far too sentimental.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for sexual content, nudity, underage drinking and smoking.

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Dramas

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... 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 learning that dreams don't come true--and adults often let kids down. Because they were all born in December, they are the first group of boys who get to travel to a small cove and stay with an older couple, Bandy (Jack Thompson) and Skipper (Kris McQuade), two of the orphanage's benefactors who have offered to house the kids during the Christmas season. Once off on this rare vacation, the boys play in the sand and water, eat well, ride on a motorcycle, go to a carnival, and experience other new and exciting things as they quickly learn that there is more to the world than they ever imagined--and they get to meet some very strange characters in the process. But when Misty overhears that Teresa (Victoria Hill) and her husband, Fearless (Sullivan Stapleton), are considering adopting one of them, the battle is on--except for Maps, who is older than the others and instead spends his time with Lucy (Teresa Palmer), experiencing his first romance. Filmed in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island and directed by longtime television veteran Rod Hardy, DECEMBER BOYS features beautiful locations, a talented cast, and a terrific soundtrack, including period songs by Norman Greenbaum ("Spirit in the Sky"), the Easybeats ("Friday on My Mind"), and Creedence Clearwater Revival ("Who'll Stop the Rain"). [More]

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Cormie, Christian Byers, James Fraser

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Cormie, Christian Byers, James Fraser, Jack Thompson

Director: Rod Hardy

Director: Rod Hardy
Screenwriter: Marc Rosenberg
Producer: Richard Becker
Composer: Carlo Giacco
Studio: Warner Independent

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Reviews for December Boys

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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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.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/14/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

A little more bite would have done December Boys a power of good.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
09/14/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

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?

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
09/14/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
thelondonpaper

Quite the most pretentious piffle I've seen all year.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
09/14/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Well-intentioned, but teeth-grindingly earnest, with a voice-over that seems to consist entirely of clichés.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
09/14/07
David Gritten
David Gritten
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Radcliffe has definitely got the hang of the moody teen act.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/14/07
Sun Online

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.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/14/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon 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.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
09/14/07
Daily Mirror [UK]

Sweet-natured but terribly dull.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/14/07
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Daniel Radcliffe indicates he may be able to shake off Harry Potter in this amiable little drama.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/14/07
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon 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.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
09/14/07
Matthew Leyland
Matthew Leyland
Total Film

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.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
09/14/07
David Jenkins
David Jenkins
Time Out
Top Critic Icon 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.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
09/14/07
Elliott Noble
Elliott Noble
Sky Movies

Watchable, nostalgia-tinged drama with strong performances from its four leads, though it's not as emotionally engaging as it should have been.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/13/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/11/07
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC
Top Critic Icon 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.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/11/07
William Thomas
William Thomas
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peg Aloi
Peg Aloi
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

The coast of Australia is an apt setting for Rod Hardy's precious drama: It's Beaches for men.

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
02/22/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for December Boys

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