Movie Breakdown: Good Boys

Pre-Screening Stance:

Generally, when kids curse or do terrible things, it’s pretty funny, so that seems like reason enough to be down for Good Boys.

Post-Screening Ramble:

There’s a scene in Good Boys where the main kids are fighting and one of them obliterates the other by describing him as a try-hard.  It’s a sharp moment, especially when you think about a 6th grader even really knowing what that means, but it also sums up the movie itself.  Director Gene Stupnitsky jam-packs it with joke after joke while also steadily doubling down on the raunchiness of it all, and the end result is an inescapable feeling that he was more preoccupied with topping the similar films that came before Good Boys (namely Superbad) instead of allowing it to stand on its own.  You know what though?  I had fun with the movie.  Sure, it’s kind of sloppy and it definitely would have benefited from a less is more approach, but it did have me cracking up more often than not.  I also think that its leads – Jacob Tremblay (Max), Keith L. Williams (Lucas) and Brady Noon (Thor) – are all pretty great as The Beanbag Boys, a trio of best friends who are trying to make sure they’re ready and able to attend their first “kissing party.”  Of the bunch, my favorite is Williams’ Lucas, who is so sweet and innocent that without him, I’m not sure the film would have any heart at all.

Good Boys isn’t as great as the movie it desperately wants to be better than – Superbad – but it is a solid comedy.  If I were you, I’d wait until you can watch it from the comfort of your couch, but if you happen to be in need of a few good laughs now, you won’t regret seeing this one at the theater.

One Last Thought:

Sam Richardson’s cameo in this left me wanting to watch every single episode of VEEP that he appears in.  On a related note, someone needs to get him in more movies.