Good Boys

by Philip Price

Director: Gene Stupnitsky 
Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams & Brady Noon
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour & 29 minutes

If 12-year old's could actually see the new Seth Rogen-produced comedy, “Good Boys,” which chronicles - in too honest a nature for their own sensibilities apparently - the misadventures of this transformative stage from elementary to middle school then there would undoubtedly be a thousand more "bean bag boy" trios popping up across the nation tomorrow and ... in all honesty ... that wouldn't be such a bad thing.
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For all of the promotional focus around this movie being on the gimmick of it starring actors too young to see their own movie because of the words and actions they say and do the truth of the matter is that despite this seemingly backwards rule (for the record, I don't think anyone under 15 should probably watch this if for no other reason than to preserve as much innocence as possible for as long as possible) the heart of “Good Boys” lies in the fact that a sweetness is ultimately born from the vulgarity it would seem reliant upon.

Our three co-leads, best friends and founding members of the aforementioned "bean bag boys" are so oblivious to the true meanings of some of the things they say, so unsuspecting in the ramifications of some of their actions and -most importantly - have the best of intentions in the quest the movie ultimately sends them on that the crudeness that comes to serve as the details in said quest only make to further emphasize the honesty of how kids act among themselves when their parents and elders aren't around. This point of these children being tawdry is just that - to garner cheap laughs from their peers, not because they actually possess such personalities; they're unrefined, sure, but they're not crass. The minutiae of such distinctions allows for the kids themselves to feel blameless in their thoughts and in their words, but more products of their environments in the truest sense of the phrase. This is where “Good Boys” becomes something wholly different in its approach though, for as much as the movie is, on a surface-level, about garnering laughs from 12-year old's saying the "F" word writer/director Gene Stupnitsky and co-writer/producer Lee Eisenberg seem intent on emphasizing the fact the title of their film is more earnest than it is satirical; meaning the bean bag boys - despite all the trouble they get into - are in fact, fundamentally, honest-to-God good boys.