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MOVIES / ON DVD / DECEMBER BOYS
December Boys

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December Boys (2007)

42%
50%
69%
N/A
N/A
N/A
42 %
Reviews Counted: 62 Fresh: 26  Rotten:36 Average Rating: 5/10
 
Consensus: Uneventful and far too sentimental.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Theatrical Release: Sep 14, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Michael Noonan, DECEMBER BOYS is a touching coming-of-age drama set in Australia in the 1960s. Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers), and Spit (James Fraser) are four best friends who live in a Catholic orphanage, hoping to be adopted but... Based on the novel by Michael Noonan, DECEMBER BOYS is a touching coming-of-age drama set in Australia in the 1960s. Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers), and Spit (James Fraser) are four best friends who live in a Catholic orphanage, hoping to be adopted but learning that dreams don't come true--and adults often let kids down. Because they were all born in December, they are the first group of boys who get to travel to a small cove and stay with an older couple, Bandy (Jack Thompson) and Skipper (Kris McQuade), two of the orphanage's benefactors who have offered to house the kids during the Christmas season. Once off on this rare vacation, the boys play in the sand and water, eat well, ride on a motorcycle, go to a carnival, and experience other new and exciting things as they quickly learn that there is more to the world than they ever imagined--and they get to meet some very strange characters in the process. But when Misty overhears that Teresa (Victoria Hill) and her husband, Fearless (Sullivan Stapleton), are considering adopting one of them, the battle is on--except for Maps, who is older than the others and instead spends his time with Lucy (Teresa Palmer), experiencing his first romance. Filmed in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island and directed by longtime television veteran Rod Hardy, DECEMBER BOYS features beautiful locations, a talented cast, and a terrific soundtrack, including period songs by Norman Greenbaum ("Spirit in the Sky"), the Easybeats ("Friday on My Mind"), and Creedence Clearwater Revival ("Who'll Stop the Rain"). [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Cormie, Christian Byers, James Fraser, Jack Thompson

Director: Rod Hardy
Screenwriter: Marc Rosenberg
Producer: Richard Becker
Composer: Carlo Giacco

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 11, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, Spanish
  • Subtitles - English, French, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Additional Scenes
  • Trailer

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image
N/A

Fans and industry watchers who wonder whether Radcliffe has what it takes to turn his increasingly sophisticated performances in [Harry Potter] into a full-blown adult career as an actor... can see for themselves: the kid's got talent...

Full Review | comment Comment
12/09/07
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
Ratings Image
N/A

Radcliffe is good at showing vulnerability but without the skills to give it gradation. The magic doesn't work for him this time.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/03/07
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/4

Director Rod Hardy adds some whimsical touches to an otherwise cliche-filled story, but the young orphans never emerge as full-blooded characters.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/12/07
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
Ratings Image
2/4

Conflicted but well-acted.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/11/07
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image
N/A

I was not charmed. I was not moved.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/08/07
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2.5/5

Pleasant but pedestrian.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/06/07
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
C+

No reason to see it. No reason not to see it, either. Shrug.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/02/07
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
Ratings Image
2.5/4

Particularly for Radcliffe fans, it's an agreeable journey.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
Ratings Image
2/4

A story line involving a crusty fisherman and a giant, fabled fish plays as unintentionally comic. Other moments are visually excessive.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Carla Meyer
Sacramento Bee
Ratings Image
B-

...it's hard to argue with the movie's general good spirits.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Mike Russell
Oregonian
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Sydney Morning Herald
Ratings Image
C

Sometimes the hardest movies to review are the ones that are middle-of-the-road, bland and completely uninspiring, movies like December Boys.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/27/07
Andy Spletzer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image
C

Sweet--indeed, cloying--coming-of-age tale...the barrage of messages it carries ultimately proves too heavy a cargo.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/24/07
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
Ratings Image
2/5

There is nothing on display in the coming-of-age drama December Boys that you haven’t already seen dozens of times before.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/24/07
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com
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B-

"December Boys" is a minor ensemble melodrama that succeeds for the heartfelt efforts of its ensemble.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/23/07
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Ratings Image
2/4

There seem to be two movies going on here at the same time, and December Boys would have been better off going all the way with one of them.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/21/07
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Though familiar as an old shoe, this is straightforward and well told.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/21/07
Joshua Katzman
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2.5/4

The two halves of December Boys -- the pre-adolescent getting of wisdom and the adolescent getting of action -- never mesh.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/21/07
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/4

The kind of film people call 'uplifting,' and while it is that much of the way, there are times when it's so oversaturated with sweetness and light, it's likely to uplift more cynical viewers from their seats in the movie theater. No matter.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/21/07
David Wiegand
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
C

Don't expect magic here.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/20/07
Matt Stephens
E! Online
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Related Forums

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• December Boys at IGN
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