Max, Thor, and Lucas are the best of friends entering the 6th grade. When they get invited to a cool kid's party, Max wants to learn how to kiss a girl in preparation of potentially kissing the girl he likes. The gang's shenanigans would lead to them losing Max's drone to two older women, creating a huge misadventure for the tweens. Looking at this description, one can tell that the plot seems a bit loose, which it is. The film is basically silly scenarios with these young boys, which is not a bad thing, but can be a bit messy when it comes to having a narrative. If you have read my "Happytime Murders" review, you would know that I prefer comedies to have the story in the background, since the strength of the genre is humour and memorable set-ups and payoffs. This film is the same. The movie brings in a ton of laughs throughout the film, mostly involving sexual humour or cursing, which works extremely well due to the central characters being tweens and their mindset of thinking swearing is cool, but not fully aware of the world of sexuality. There is some nice physical comedy as well in the mix. A surprising amount of the jokes surprisingly hit with few rarely missing to make me laugh hard.
Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, and Keith L. Williams are the highlights in this film as they did a fantastic job acting as what real 10 to 11-year olds act like. Their onscreen chemistry also works as they all act like they knew each other their whole life. Anyone watching the movie can relate to any of the boys with Max being in the transition of a sweet, innocent kid to a pubescent tween, Thor trying to fit with the cool kids by sipping beer and swearing, and Lucas being the responsible kid who chooses to behave like a saint. Personally, Lucas is my favourite of the three, but Max got me to care for him, since Tremblay plays him with such innocence and with a soft, high-pitched voice. As for the side characters, there's really not much to mention since the movie doesn't really focus on side characters that steal the film from the kids, but rather to attempt stealing a scene or two. The only exception would be the two women that took Max's drone, but they are a bit annoying and I felt that they should have been replaced by a child bully, a mean neighbour, or some other character that can have more comedic and narrative potential.
There's nothing to say about Gene Stupnitsky's directing as it's a decent job. It's basic for the comedy genre, which is fine since his directing for the comedy scenarios are very spot-on. The soundtrack used in the film are very good in the scenes they are placed in and don't feel like odd choices at all. The morals used in the film are a bit generic, but it's nice for this type of film. If there is one issue with the directing, it's the choice of the third act to be too dramatic. While there are laughs in the act, they felt much more reduced compared to the rest of the film and tried beating the emotional moments too much, which makes the third act the weakest aspect of the film. The ending isn't bad and it does end on a good note and message, but it doesn't make you leave the theatre feeling very good due to the choice of a more relaxed, dramatic third act.
Overall, "Good Boys" is a good comedy romp. It might not be a great comedy due to the third act, lack of funny side characters, and a strong narrative, but the main characters played by amazing child actors, along with the comedic scenarios they get into, really shine through. The film can relate to the child in heart, the adult comedy fan, or those who remember getting in trouble in their childhood and remembering the stupid things they did like myself. It might not be a contender for my top comedies, but maybe a contender for the funniest film this year at least.
Verdict: 7/10. Watch if you are in a mood for laughs and the feels this month.
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