Good Boys (film)
Good Boys is a 2019 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Gene Stupnitsky, in his directorial debut, and written by Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. The film stars Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, and Brady Noon as three sixth-graders who find themselves involved in a series of misadventures as they try to attend a party hosted by their popular classmates. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg serve as producers through their Point Grey Pictures banner.
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 16, 2019, by Universal Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box-office success, having grossed $110 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.
Plot
Friends Max, Lucas, and Thor enter sixth grade facing their own personal dilemmas: Max has a crush on classmate Brixlee, Lucas learns his parents are getting divorced, and teasing from his peers discourages Thor from pursuing his love of singing. When presented with the opportunity to kiss Brixlee at a party hosted by popular student Soren, Max and his friends use his father's valued drone to spy on his teenage neighbor Hannah in an attempt to learn proper kissing. The plan goes awry and results in the drone being destroyed and Max, Lucas, and Thor in possession of Hannah's ecstasy. To avoid getting grounded, the three boys skip school to buy a new drone at the local mall, with Hannah and her friend Lily in pursuit.Amid a series of escapades, Max, Lucas, and Thor reach the mall, but learn that Hannah and Lily bought the drone and will only give it to the boys in exchange for their ecstasy. Having surrendered the drugs to a police officer, the boys manage to obtain new ecstasy from Hannah's ex-boyfriend Benji and trade it for the drone. Nevertheless, Max is unable to prevent his father from finding out that he used the drone and is grounded. An argument ensues between the friends and the three go their separate ways, although Max takes the blame for what transpired to prevent Lucas and Thor from getting in trouble. When Lucas speaks to his parents about the potential end of his friendships, they advise him that, he, Max, and Thor are growing apart.
That night, Lucas convinces Max to sneak out to attend the party, tricking Max and Thor into meeting up again in the process. Max successfully kisses Brixlee while Lucas and Thor re-encounter Hannah and Lily, the latter revealed as Soren's sister, who encourage Thor to continue his passion for singing. In the ensuing weeks, Thor lands the role of Stacee Jaxx in the school's amateur production of Rock of Ages, Lucas joins the anti-bullying group at the school, and after his relationships with Brixlee and then her friend Taylor end in heartbreak, Max begins dating his classmate Scout. Following a performance of the school musical, Max, Lucas, and Thor reconcile and promise to remain in each other's lives.
Cast
Additionally, co-writer and co-producer Lee Eisenberg appears as a character named Leigh Eisenberg. Max's mother is portrayed by Mariessa Portelance, while Enid-Raye Adams plays Thor's mother and Benita Ha plays Lily and Soren's mother. Lina Renna portrays Thor's sister Annabelle. The boys' classmates Marcus and Atticus are played by Christian Darrel Scott and Chance Hurtsfield, respectively, and Alexander Calvert plays fraternity brother Daniel. Stephen Merchant makes an uncredited appearance as Claude, the man who purchases a sex doll from the boys.Production
On August 16, 2017, it was announced that Seth Rogen's Point Grey Pictures and Good Universe would produce a comedy film together from writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who would both also make their directorial debut. The film was produced by Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Nathan Kahane, and Joe Drake. In March 2018, Jacob Tremblay was cast in the film, titled Good Boys, to which Universal Pictures bought the distribution rights.The film was shot in Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, and Abbotsford in British Columbia, Canada. Stupnitsky received sole director credit.
Release
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2019. Good Boys was theatrically released on August 16, 2019 by Universal Pictures, and became generally available on December 13, 2019.Home media
Good Boys was released on Digital HD on October 29, 2019 and on DVD and Blu-ray on November 12, 2019.Reception
Box office
Good Boys grossed $83.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $27.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $110.6 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $39million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.In the United States and Canada, Good Boys was projected to gross $12–15 million from 3,204 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $8.3 million on its first day, including $2.1 million from Thursday night previews. It overperformed and went on to debut to $21 million, becoming the first R-rated comedy since The Boss to finish first at the box office. The film made $11.6 million in its second weekend and $9.5 million in its third, finishing second behind Angel Has Fallen both times.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 237 reviews with an average rating of 6.52/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Good Boys is undermined by an eagerness to repeatedly indulge in profane humor, but its appealing cast and ultimately thoughtful message often shine through." Metacritic collected 44 reviews and assessed 27 as positive, 14 as mixed, and 3 as negative; it gave the film a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 83% and a 61% "definite recommend."Critic Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a rating of three stars out of four, who commented that "for all its wacky, gross-out, shock-ya humor, Good Boys has a lot of heart."