REVIEW: GOOD BOYS, HEALTHY DOSE OF POOR TASTE

LIAM EASLEY, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

We have all seen movies that resurrect the darkest, most cringeworthy memories and motifs of grade school. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” provided a PG version, but “Good Boys,” the 2019 comedy debut of Director Gene Stupnitsky, is a whole other level of chaotic adolescence.

Meet the Beanbag Boys: three young boys Max, Lucas and Thor, who just started sixth grade. The three friends lose Max’s father’s drone, get caught up with teenage girls and siege a fraternity house with a paintball gun, all while facing the challenges of growing up, specifically, puberty and parents’ divorces.

That being said, it should come as no surprise that Seth Rogan was one of the producers for this movie. There are plenty of cogs moving the plot of this film forward, but all of the loose ends tie together successfully while maintaining the audience’s attention.

While “Good Boys” had plenty of emphasis on the plot, there was no lack of comedy, making it an entertaining and well-structured film. “I love you. I just don’t like you anymore,” Max’s father explains over melodramatic music, during a typical montage that most movies with adolescent shenanigans have.

This is just one example of the film’s unpredictability, something that is always good for sustaining a comedic movie. One of the greatest aspects of this film was the uncanny relatability. While the film portrayed the most recent generation, there were still classic motifs.

There came a moment in the Beanbag Boys’ adventure where they had to cross an expressway. There were 12 lanes, and traffic was at a slow crawl, but to a sixth grader it was a menacing sight, and crossing it spelled out certain death.

On top of the expressway scene, there were plenty of sexual innuendos the kids tried to make sense of, nodding their heads at explanations that were outrageously wrong, yet accurate as to what a sixth grader might say. All of it reeked of the worst kind of nostalgia, but nonetheless, was hysterical.

Overall, the film was not revolutionary or even a modern classic. As a comedy, it is not likely that the creativity would be expressed through cinematography, the creativity is to be expressed through the actors both verbally and physically. It does what a comedy is supposed to do, and is a good film to laugh at with a group of friends, preferably in the same age group as you.