Boys (2014)

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of the best films I have ever seen and my favorite LGBT one. I watched this movie while surfing Netflix and fell in love with it quickly. I woke up the next morning with memories of the film on my mind. I watched it again the next night. I have not had a movie move me so powerfully before watching Jongens. It left a strange combination of melancholy and beauty with me. I thought of it often throughout the day. Why? Everything about the film works. The cinematography is exceptional. The filming locations were great choices and all of the scenes have a certain pristine feel, echoing the feeling of young love between the characters. The actors deliver heartfelt performances, creating a very genuine feel to the film. The subtlest expressions on their faces show what the characters are feeling. The story line is also very good - Sieger grapples with his sexuality and you can see him trying to accept himself for who he is. In addition, he is stuck in situations socially and at home. The cherry on top is the soundtrack. The audio is mesmerizing and adds to the overall feeling of the film. To conclude, Jongens is a beautifully crafted, incredible, haunting tale of love. This is a must-watch for everyone.

On the one hand, many scenes are soft and serene, on the other brisk and agitated. There is a fine drama lurking somewhere in between. The actors are all well cast and very skillful, as is the production department. What seems to be lacking for me is a clear focus on the main theme. The physical look of the two leads unfortunately get mixed up with many of the supporting players. Only a quarter way through the film was I able to distinguish the leads from the rest. When races were run, there didn't seem to be a clear picture of who was the main team, who were the challengers, and exactly who was winning. The same can be said for characters' objectives--the leads vs. the supports. (Also the American title, Boys, seems too generic to make a distinctive impression.)The problem apparently is in the basic design and execution of the script. Otherwise, the film is well shot and the entire cast quite accomplished.

At this writing the previous reviews save one all heap praise on this sweet little movie. The lone dissenter hated it.I understand both points of view. It's well done, nicely framed, and tells a story that flows quite naturally. It is subtle, and it shows us what's happening rather than tells us, which is what a good movie needs to do. On the other hand, we have seen this story and virtually every plot device it uses in countless other gay films from the last 30 years.More than one review here compares Boys to Beautiful Thing. No, sorry. Not even close. Beautiful Thing is unflinching in its hard boiled, sardonic view of teen age angst. This movie should only be compared to Beautiful Thing by calling it Beautiful Thing Ultra Lite.Now, that's not a bad thing, necessarily. And, evidently, for a lot of people, Ultra Lite is enough. I won't say I didn't enjoy it, because I did; it's very watchable. But if you go into this expecting a masterpiece, well, you may not find it. Especially if you've seen a lot of gay-themed movies that are really good.

I very carefully did NOT put spoilers in this review, although I wanted to, but I checked the spoiler alert anyway because some reader might be able to guess the ending just from my attitude. If you're extremely sensitive, don't read any farther. Otherwise, you're very welcome to spend a few minutes in my world.Obviously others who have seen this movie enjoyed it. I found it almost unbearably frustrating.It's yet another coming out movie, which is bad enough, with all the standard violence, homophobia, angst, blown opportunities and cowardly betrayals of the one who least deserves it. It got to be too much - way, WAY too much.One screw-up after another after another, relentlessly, endlessly, as if the comer-out was trying very, very hard to do absolutely EVERYTHING as badly as possible. After what seemed like five hours of the same crap I wanted to punch the jerk myself.No gay person in real life can be that stupid AND that afraid AND that cowardly AND that selfish. Gay men are stronger than straight men are, not weaker - we HAVE to be! - and persisting in making movies that make us look like self-centered cowards is inexcusable. If there actually are gay males like that lurking somewhere in the Netherlands countryside, their despicable behavior should not be celebrated on film.But what makes this movie even worse than the typical coming-out movie is its infuriating ending, about which I will say no more. I hated it. I checked two stars, but I realize it doesn't deserve even one.