Rating: 
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: (. . .)Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache.He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.) The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police. "If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. They're loving it. They feel alive. (Luke even builds courage in one of the boys who was dealing with girl trouble, named Kyle, but ultimately had girl trouble no more, for he got that girl, impressed her by filling her in with his knowledge in air crafting as Luke wisely told him to, and his dream was finally fulfilled as he got to show how great his "affection" was upon her as they had sexual intercourse together.) Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved. The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them. Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge. On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father. Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. Even Eric, the tough-talking, badly-behaved kid who pushed others such as Brad around and talked about how ineffectual and cowardly they were, becomes nothing more but an ineffectual and cowardly kid himself, while Brad, one who was perpetually antagonized by him, became the brave one who was willing to risk his own life in order to prevent Kyle from losing his, and, most vitally, Kyle's bother's, who was shot earlier on in the dorsum and left to bleed to death inside their shack.
"Kyle, he's getting beaten around. We have to do something. We have to do something," Brad urgently pleads.
"What? No wait...you know what, we'll just call the cops, huh?" the apprehensive Eric says.
"No, it's too late-"
"We'll call the cops-"
"It's too late," Brad continues, and they ultimately find a way to enter their shack without Luke indicating any signs of their existence, a time when even greater heat was summoned.
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.) The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: (. . .)Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.) The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police. "If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. They're loving it. They feel alive. (Luke even builds courage in one of the boys who was dealing with girl trouble, named Kyle, but ultimately had girl trouble no more, for he got that girl, impressed her by filling her in with his knowledge in air crafting as Luke wisely told him to, and his dream was finally fulfilled as he got to show how great his "affection" was upon her as they had sexual intercourse together.) Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved. The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them. Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge. On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father. Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. Even Eric, the tough-talking, badly-behaved kid who pushed others such as Brad around and talked about how ineffectual and cowardly they were, becomes nothing more but an ineffectual and cowardly kid himself, while Brad, one who was perpetually antagonized by him, became the brave one who was willing to risk his own life in order to prevent Kyle from losing his, and, most vitally, Kyle's bother's, who was shot earlier on in the dorsum and left to bleed to death inside their shack.
"Kyle, he's getting beaten around. We have to do something. We have to do something," Brad urgently pleads.
"What? No wait...you know what, we'll just call the cops, huh?" the apprehensive Eric says.
"No, it's too late-"
"We'll call the cops-"
"It's too late," Brad continues, and they ultimately find a way to enter their shack without Luke indicating any signs of their existence, a time when even greater heat was summoned.
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.) The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: My remarks toward this picture
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.) The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police. "If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. (spoiler) What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved. The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them. Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge. On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father. Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. (spoiler)
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.) The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: My remarks toward this picture
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.) The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police. "If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. (spoiler) What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved. The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them. Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge. On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father. Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. (spoiler)
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.) The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.
Rating: 
Summary: *cough cough*
Review: At first I thought this movie is a horror movie, hehehehe... The setting of this movie is in Southern part of Ontario in Canada ( I live in Ontario too but i'm in the city though). This movie is okay, they did an okay job. The first half of the movie is a little boring but the second half is getting more and more interesting, when the figutive guy shot this guy's brother and won't let them take him to hospital. I thought he's going to die. Plus, the singer known as 'BIF Naked' did a cameo on this movie as a security guard of the beer store. That was a little surpirse. I don't really recommend this movie to anyone because there's a lot more movies out there that is more worth it to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a dreadful childhood, who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered, such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral.
The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discovered hiding out in their shack deep into the wilderness might just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they of course decide to help him rather than report the incident to the police.
Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgement, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.
The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.
Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Be or River's Edge.
On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zamprogna perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle 's (Zamprogna) father.
Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the synopsis ups the emotional stakes. The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is a stern and powerful film that tests friendships and yet doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that it is. The Boys Club, though the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was, it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; in addition, because it, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I only had a VCR, a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered my outlook upon movie-viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a dreadful childhood, who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered, such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral.
The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discovered hiding out in their shack deep into the wilderness might just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they of course decide to help him rather than report the incident to the police.
Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgement, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.
The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.
Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Be or River's Edge.
On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zamprogna perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle 's (Zamprogna) father.
Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the synopsis ups the emotional stakes. The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is a stern and powerful film that tests friendships and yet doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that it is. The Boys Club, though the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was, it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; in addition, because it, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I only had a VCR, a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered my outlook upon movie-viewing.
Rating:
Summary: What is true friendship?
Review: I absolutely loved this movie. It truly proves that true friends stick together. I would have loved to have a shack/clubhouse like the one in this movie. Devon truly works the camera. When he is beat up by Chris, you really feel for him. You almost want to reach out and help him. I DEFINATELY recommend this movie. But only to teenagers and above. Great script, story line, and actors!
Rating:
Summary: Devon looks so amazingly hot!!!!
Review: I can tell you that this is a well-crafted film and I can tell you that the actors did a great job. But I won't. Because the only reason I watched this movie was to see Devon show that beautiful smile that takes my breath away. I would love to get him in an abandoned shack for a few days. The actors did do a great job, but Devon was the only body...err person that caught and kept my eye :)
Rating:
Summary: Devon Sawa does an excellent acting job!
Review: I have loved Devon Sawa ever since I first saw him in the NERF commercials and followed by his first movie Little Giants. This movie challenges Devon acting skills, and he passes with flying colors. Devon has always played a "boy next door" figure and it's exciting to see him as a "bad role model." It's an excellent movie and I highly recommend it.
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