Good Boys

Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon, Midori Francis, Millie Davis, Will Forte, Retta, Lil Rel Howery

Director: Gene Stupnitsky

Best friends Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L Williams), and Thor (Brady Noon) aka "The Beanbag Boys" are about to embark on the journey of their 6th grade lives. Max, and by proxy Lucas and Thor, has been invited to a kissing party by cool kid Soren (Izaac Wang) and doesn't want to miss out on his chance to be with the love of his life Brixlee (Millie Davis). Their only problem is they have never kissed a girl. Originally believing they can learn to kiss by watching their teenage neighbor Hannah (Molly Gordon), they find their friendship tested after destroying Max's Dad's drone, accidentally stealing drugs, and trying to not be grounded so they can make the party.

This movie was pretty funny. Running a quick hour and 29 minutes, the gags come quickly as the boys get into more and more precarious situations. While a lot of the humor is pretty raunchy, the boys drop f-bombs very casually, what worked the best for me was the boys naiveté and lack of awareness and understanding of what they were actually saying. I actually wonder how much of the jokes they had to explain to the kids as they were filming. Another fun recurring joke for me was their inability to open bottles because of the childproof lids. It works well in context and isn't over used.

The movie was a little hard to get into at first, thanks largely in part to some super choppy editing that doesn't let the boys rapport come through fully. The film was written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (who also directed), who are best known for "The Office,” which shows with the episodic feel to each adventure the boys get into.

Through all the raunchiness, this is actually a sweet movie about friendship. I don't think I would have liked this as much without the third act, which touches on the lasting effects of friendship. While not done as well as Booksmart, it's interesting both of these movies released so soon after one another.

The kids are all fantastic. A lot of the humor could be uncomfortable without the child like innocence they bring. While Jacob Tremblay is very cute as Max, the star of the movie for me was Keith L. Williams. Lucas is maybe given the most depth out of any of the boys, with his parents going through a divorce, and his actions throughout the film are grounded in what is happening to him at home. I wish more of the boys had been given as much depth. 

While not one of the better studio comedies to come out in recent memory (Game Night, Blockers), this is still a fun time.

B-