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The Boys Are Back
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Metascore
57 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 28 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: Inspired by a true story, The Boys Are Back is a deeply moving, wryly confessional tale of fatherhood, that intimately evokes both the fragility and wonders of family life. It follows a witty, wisecracking, action-oriented sportswriter who, in the wake of his wife’s tragic death, finds himself in a sudden, stultifying state of single parenthood. With turbulent emotions swirling just below the surface, Joe Warr throws himself into the only child-rearing philosophy he thinks has a shot at bringing joy back into their lives: “just say yes.” Raising two boys – a curious six year-old and a rebel teen from a previous marriage -- in a household devoid of feminine influence, and with an unabashed lack of rules, life becomes exuberant, instinctual, reckless and on the constant verge of disaster. United by unspoken love, conflicted by fierce feelings and in search of a road forward, the three multi-generational boys of the Warr household, father and sons alike, must each find their own way, however tenuous, to grow up. Their story is not just about the transforming power of a family crisis -- but the unavoidable grace of everyday life and love that gets them through. (Miramax)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 28
  3. Negative: 1 out of 28
  1. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    88
    In less capable hands, the movie could have been maudlin. Instead, Hicks and Owen have created an intimate drama told with humor and emotion.
  2. NPR
    Reviewed by: Mark Jenkins
    60
    The effect is weirdly lulling. Viewers with a special connection to this story, or a weakness for little boys and single dads, may find The Boys Are Back moving. For everyone else, the movie is merely picturesque.
  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    25
    Owen is a magnetic, sensitive presence at the center of a movie that doesn't deserve him and that barely deserves to be seen.

See all 28 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. KerrynS
    9
    Fantastic, thought provoking, real story, with breathtaking scenery.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. Neonite
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was really looking forward to this movie. I thought it would be a refreshingly intelligent, progressive and emotionally real depiction of single fatherhood. It was almost. I think unfortunately the Australian film industry gets in the way of itself in terms of a genuine, un-cliched human story. The kind of human realism and emotional depth required to really engage the viewer tend to be outshone by the persistent pandering to our own cliched ideals about men, women and the picturesque landscapes we inhabit. I guess the AF industry isn't big or mature enough yet to include those self-obsessed 'Aussie culture' films - with a whole bunch of other movies that transcend them emotionally and conceptually, and really speak to people as a whole [including Australians]. Although this movie is really quite beautifully produced and includes an evocative soundtrack that communicates much of the emotion, the great moments are still weighed down by almost embarrassing unsophistication in terms of male-female relationships and confused gender hostility typically found in Australian movies. Apparently we don't understand love, we don't like real human connections, in fact we don't like men and women appearing to get along or relate whatsoever. We like them to be angry aliens on each other's planet. Otherwise it interfers with our entrenched lazy ideals about who we are and who we are not, that save us from any real emotional development that might one day be reflected in our films and put us on par with other countries. The movie starts with a gratingly ridiculous and base couple banter, followed by a very moving and well edited treatment of death in a family, and yet the movie innapropriately raps up with a faintly victorious declaration that the three 'boys' have managed to succeed in living without women, including their recently dead one. Although based on a memoir, this is still a story snapped up wittingly or otherwise for being about a loveable incompetent male and the irritating competent females who orbit around him, and they all don't get each other and they all fight a lot and yet utterly accept it as their natural lot in life. Yaaaawn. And in true urban spirit, they'll all live self-righteously ever after.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. JulieD
    1
    Boring - felt like slapping the child - thought there was something wrong with all of them. Yet another failure for Australia in making movies.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 7 User Reviews

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