Sorry, this movie sucks

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

The first must-see film of the year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This movie was a surprise to me (in a good way) as I'd never heard of it before and only bothered with it because I saw Clive Owen's name attached. Now though I can't understand how it's gone under the wire and remained so underrated. The performances are just fantastic, particularly from the boy playing Owens youngest son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty). He is amazing, acting like a real kid not a Hollywood version, complete with temper tantrums and utter brattiness that all parents will appreciate yet his grief is at times also absolutely heartbreaking.Filmed in South Australia (and England) the scenery is beautiful and only adds to this honest and well portrayed story of a father trying to cope and carry on following the death of his wife, while raising his two sons in a nonconformist way. This really is a story of fathers and sons as all the women here have lesser roles. Despite the heavy content this still manages to have a few lighter comedic moments. Just a great heartfelt movie. 05.13

Fatherhood that is realistically examined through difficult consequences and characteristics is tough to find in cinema. "The Boys Are back" has a terrible title, but a wonderful story. Clive Owen gives a great performance as single parent Joe Warr, a sportswriter who has to raise his two sons after his wife dies, which takes some getting use to due to his wife raising the kids mostly, and Joe working constantly. His youngest son Artie has attitude issues and is very energetic and hyper. His son Harry from a previous marriage resents Joe and has always had a rocky relationship with him. The three men all interact in good and bad times with one another and end up providing the audience with a realistic display of family issues. Scott Hicks directs this film very settling and desirable way in which the film transforms right into it's core plot from the beginning sequences. A personal and detailed script by Allan Cubitt, this story transfers human struggles into family struggles with all three men's issues combining into one to show the dynamics of family virtues. Clive Owen portrays a troubled father excellently without getting too sappy or getting carried away in various scenes that many actors would over do. "the Boys Are Back" is a wonderful tale of parenthood and family related topics that is a sure audience pleasure.

I loved this movie, as it seemed to show a male version of learning, learning from reality and honesty about the responsibilities of caring for others - if you've chosen to do it, you have to face what is needed, and try do it, not just wing it, when you feel like doing it.I love the honesty in the film, love how the new growing girlfriend does not put up with him skipping over stages in the relationship and just expecting her to bail him out by helping with the sons when he suddenly needs it. Clearly he is a man with very vague assumptions that women's roles just simply fall into place automatically without choice and planning. This movie is great for showing his learning from failures, we see that planning overall is needed, to organize a house and home. I disagree with the reviewer who said the film lacked an ending: I may be romantic, but it seemed that Joe was learning with each lesson, and that by the end, he had reluctantly but realistically accepted losing his work role as lead sports reporter, making the choice to take care of his sons, and do what it takes to be there. One has the idea that he gets the idea that he must now tell his job not to count on him for emergencies, and if once in a while he must go, he will plan ahead.

Nice film that unfortunately didn't get the chance to perform well at the box office because of an incredible lack of marketing. The film has three connected storyline.You have Joe Warr (Clive Owen) a father who his coping with adjusting his carefree lifestyle for the need of his sons after loosing his wife from Cancer,you then have his son Artie Warr (Nicholas McAnulty) a little boy who don't know how to handle the loss of his mother. Then,you have the 14 year old son,Harry Warr (George MacKay) from a previous marriage who always felt left out by his father and never built up the courage to tell him and the fact that his mother is now pregnant with a new child from another man increase the boy's feeling of being on his own.The father and his two sons learn from each other throughout the film and the father start to built a relationship with his children but the film is not Soppy or cheesy,somehow it find a way to tell this sort of story without going over the top,to make it short this is not a lifetime movie of the week , it's a strong drama with subtle,quiet but very thoughtful performance. Clive Owen gives one of his best performance as a father who doesn't quite know how to handle his newly found responsibility,he gives a very strong yet vulnerable performance. Nicholas McAnulty,the youngest of the cast gives a great performance for such a young actor,he plays a boy who is overwhelmed from keeping his grief locked inside with incredible maturity. But in my opinion the most interesting storyline came from Joe's estranged British son,Harry, played by the very talented George MacKay.The relationship between Harry and his father was very interesting because they truly felt like a father and son who knew nothing about each other and some of the most intense scene came from the two trying to get a feel for each other.One scene that stick in my mind was when a frustrated Joe asked Harry to take the garbage out and after Harry insist that he will do it but later , Joe get angry with Harry who immediately realize that he had upset his father.It's an awkward moment between a father and a son who were never long enough with each other to have that sort of fight before and it ends up with Harry crying and his father running away from having to deal with his oldest son's problem , knowing quite well that the problem was in fact himself.It's theses bravely performed moment that makes this film a pleasure to watch. The only minor problems I have with the film is that some elements that are introduced are not used to the best of their capacity.The relationship between Joe and his Mother in Law is interesting but underused and you feel that much more could have been done with it,the same goes for the relationship between Joe and the mother of one of his youngest son's friend (Emma Booth). Overall this film had a very good Cast and interesting characters and as a Drama it's superior to a lot of films that comes out at the moment. Very recommended. 7.5 out of 10.