|
Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
December Boys
Warner Independent Pictures
 |
|
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual content, nudity, underage drinking and smoking
Starring
Daniel Radcliffe,
Teresa Palmer,
Christian Byers,
Lee Cormie,
James Fraser,
Jack Thompson,
and
Kris McQuade
Based on the classic Michael Noonan novel, December Boys is the story of four orphan teenagers growing up behind the closed doors of a Catholic convent in outback Australia during the 1960s. As the boys watch younger kids get adopted by loving families, they begin to realize that as they get older, their turn may never come. But the boys finally have something to look forward to when the convent sends them to visit the seaside one summer. While at the seaside, the boys meet a young couple unable to have children and who would make the perfect parents. The eldest of the boys, Maps, finds himself drawn to Lucy, a beautiful girl from down the coast. Competing to be the most adoptable, the rest of the boys, Sparks, Misty, and Spit, severely test their friendships as long-gestating feelings of rejection explode to the surface. The bonds of friendship eventually overcome the rivalries, sealing forever the strong ties that bind the December boys as they learn the real meaning behind friendship, family, and love. (Warner Independent Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Michael Noonan (novel)
Marc Rosenberg
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Rod Hardy
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 11, 2007
Theatrical: September 14, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
105 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Australia / UK / USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Tasteful and gorgeously photographed coming-of-age story.
75
TV Guide
Ken Fox
This charming tale of a quartet of Australian orphans who share a life-altering holiday in the 1960s should appeal to sentimental adults old enough to wax nostalgic over their own adolescences.
70
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
A refreshingly gentle treatment of familiar themes such as the inevitability of change, the dashing of youthful illusions and mutability of family. Enhanced by an exotic locale, the movie overcomes a well-trodden narrative path and unflinchingly brandishes its sentimentality as it stakes out its crowd-pleasing territory.
70
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
The film's dramatic moments are small but exquisitely rendered so that you feel the emotions experienced so many years ago. The film lingers afterward in your mind like a favorite vacation that triggered moments of sheer intensity.
70
Chicago Reader
Joshua Katzman
Though familiar as an old shoe, this is straightforward and well told.
67
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
The film sort of loses its touch when it gets "dramatic" toward the end -- it's the type of flick where the sky gets overcast when everyone is sad -- but it's hard to argue with the movie's general good spirits.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The filmmakers can't decide whether to trust the period innocence of the book (and play down their casting coup) or let the young man rip as a preteen-babe magnet... So December Boys splits the difference -- safely, dully.
67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
For much of its duration, December is poignantly bittersweet, but the closing sugar rush washes its pleasing ambiguities away.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
The movie would pour nicely onto a thick stack of pancakes.
63
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
A problematic memory play, shot through with honey-colored nostalgia, that backs nervously into darker matters.
63
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
The movie is mildly notorious for a (relatively chaste) scene in which Radcliffe's character loses his virginity. But if you're looking to watch this former child star grownup, track down his classic guest turn on TV's "Extras" instead.
60
Variety
Russell Edwards
Occasionally touching but rarely convincing coming-of-ager.
60
Empire
William Thomas
More Sunday afternoon filler than cinema sensation, it’s a perfectly pleasant drama, but you’ll struggle to remember it the next day.
50
Chicago Tribune
Sid Smith
Juvenile viewers may well benefit from the movie. But, for the adult, it’s ultimately a film that arrives too early for the season in its title and too late in terms of style and impact.
50
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Radcliffe is good at showing vulnerability but without the skills to give it gradation. The magic doesn't work for him this time.
50
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
There seem to be two movies going on here at the same time, and December Boys would have been better off going all the way with one of them.
50
San Francisco Chronicle
David Wiegand
Oversaturated with sweetness and light.
50
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Pleasant but pedestrian.
50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Andy Spletzer
Bland and completely uninspiring.
40
Village Voice
Ella Taylor
If Daniel Radcliffe is hoping for an acting life after Harry Potter, he might want to be choosier than this cloying little Australian number.
40
The New York Times
Jeannette Catsoulis
A coming-of-age tale so treacly it doesn’t just tug your heartstrings, it attempts to glue them to your ribs.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|
