The Boys Are Back
Miramax Films | Release Date: September 25, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
In less capable hands, the movie could have been maudlin. Instead, Hicks and Owen have created an intimate drama told with humor and emotion. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Few films have so poignantly portrayed a father's relationships with his sons as The Boys Are Back. Read full review
80
VarietyJustin Chang
This is polished yet authentically moving. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Owen, in a heartfelt, award-caliber performance, never goes soft. It's his core of toughness that makes the movie so funny, touching and vital. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
For all its generally judicious choices, there's one device in The Boys Are Back that may test the patience of some viewers. Every once in a while, the late Katy pops up in a scene to offer Joe wifely advice. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
It aims -- successfully -- to make you think and feel. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Relationships - between men and women, fathers and sons - are more complicated in real life, and The Boys Are Back deftly acknowledges that fact. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Humor and humanity keep The Boys Are Back from being a cloying mess. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The movie should come with the tag line “Don't try this at home,” because the method has near-fatal pitfalls. Yet the characters' clumsy emotional growth shows us there's hope even for a stumbling father and two sons groping toward peace. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
The Boys Are Back is a bit like the parenting it portrays -- at times there is pain, mistakes will be made, but if you can get beyond that, there is pleasure to be found. Read full review
70
Film ThreatStina Chyn
Neither hater nor admirer, I still get wrapped up in his (Owen) mannerisms and emerald stare. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
With those piercing eyes, Owen makes a lovely, soulful Joe, of course. But it's not the nice papa we want to understand here, it's the unapologetically naughty one. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Hicks has made a technically adept film, but one that, for all of its strong acting and vivid photography, left me less moved than I should have been. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
An uneven quasi-weepie. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Clive Owen can be a likable actor, but the character is working against him...And please, please, give us a break from the scenes where the ghost of the departed turns up and starts talking as if she's not dead. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Tidily arranges its raw feelings about fathering and manhood into a decent, intelligent melodrama meant to soothe audiences and provoke no one. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
Weaving between freshness and formula, The Boys Are Back earns a gentle pat on the head. Read full review
60
NPRMark Jenkins
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. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The performances save the movie from a treacly inevitability. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Not surprisingly, Boys works much better as an Owen vehicle than a movie--it’s a great, meaty part in a decidedly less-than-great film. Read full review
50
Village VoiceBrian Miller
Carr's original anecdotes don't supply much storyline, so Hicks spans the gaps with golden-lit montages set to Sigur Rós. They're a great advertisement for Australian vacations. And vasectomies. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
A substantial performance from Clive Owen rescues what might otherwise have been a fairly gooey fatherhood drama. Read full review
50
Washington PostDan Kois
What power the movie has comes from its stars, especially the two boys, who give very different but very convincing performances. Read full review
50
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
That it's all true might make it more heart-tugging, but it doesn't make it any more interesting. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith Uhlich
There’s little that can be done with material wrung of its complications to accommodate an ultimately life-affirming, it-all-works-out agenda. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Has a burnished, high-quality look and a heart swollen with maudlin self-regard. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It’s distinguishing the trickle from the treacle that becomes the problem. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Owen is a magnetic, sensitive presence at the center of a movie that doesn't deserve him and that barely deserves to be seen. Read full review
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