Boy A (2007)

6 of 10

Personal Bias Alert:  likes a good character study, dislikes people who kill children (duh)

            “You’re entitled to some happiness, Jack,” claims a character in “Boy A.”  That certainly isn’t asking for much.  Most people wish that for everyone but a select few, excluding only the monsters that lurk on the edges of our society.  Jack is uncertain about this right because he may in fact be one of those monsters.  It’s hard, though, once you really get to know someone, to write them off so completely.  That’s what “Boy A” tries to accomplish, to give us a full portrait of some who has committed a terrible act but still deserves a second chance.

            The film opens with Jack (Andrew Garfield) talking to his rehabilitation worker Terry (Peter Mullan) about his upcoming release.  He is brimming with energy, exuding a boyish glee even as they discuss the complications of his new life.  He is assuming a new identity as Jack, which must become second nature both for his own safety and to protect his chances at starting over.  This is where the cracks start to show.  There’s doubt in Jack that runs simultaneous to his optimism, and the whole scene is a balancing act for Garfield.  He must show someone acutely aware of the crossroads he is standing at, where his life can go in one direction and be disastrous or in another direction and be better than he could imagine.  Garfield excels at doing just that, and he maintains this emotional complexity throughout the film.  Seemingly immersed in the role, Garfield never showing a hint of artifice, and is the prime reason to see the film.

            The crime Jack committed is slowly revealed through a series of flashbacks.  We find out that when Jack was a boy, he and a friend murdered a young girl.  It’s a horrific act, seemingly incongruous with the bashful twenty-something we see for most of the movie.  The filmmakers are acutely aware that they must elicit enough compassion for Jack so that the audience will be willing to forgive him.  This leads them to lay it on thick, going out of their way to show the young Jack as a victim of circumstance and the older Jack as a reformed fellow.  This thick slathering pushes the audience so far to Jack’s side that any intellectual debate on the complicated issue of reformation is lost.  Worse yet, it undercuts Garfield’s conflicted performance.

            The focal point of the story, wherein Jack is trying to assimilate into society again, is burdened with repeated contrivances that aim to show how much Jack has changed.  He gets a job, befriends his coworkers, and even falls in love.  The screenwriters bring in Terry’s indolent son as contrast, in case you couldn’t see how well Jack was doing.  Strong characters save the day again, making the sagging middle section watchable.  His friends, played by Jeremy Swift and Shaun Evans, show the macho delicacy that can exist between young men.  They wheedle Jack for intimate information on his relationship, but also stop using a less than respectful nickname for his girlfriend.  The three are genuinely close, and the importance of their relationship becomes clear by the end.

            “Boy A” is based on the book of the same name, which I haven’t read.  Many of my problems with the plot may stem from the book, so I can’t outright blame the filmmakers for these issues.  The issue that does clearly stem from them is the bland style in which the film was made.  Director John Crowley and screenwriter Mark O’Rowe both work primarily in theater and haven’t seemed to grasp the differences between the mediums.  The script could easily be made into a play, and Crowley shot the movie in a very basic way.  Camera movements are minimal while interesting shot compositions are nonexistent.  These things don’t require a large budget (which the film didn’t have), but are indicative of the inexperience behind the camera.

            The film works as a character study, but it fails to explore the complicated issues it brings up.  Themes of reformation, second chances, and societal acceptance play large parts, and by only skimming the surface of them the film feels like a missed opportunity.

            Other Notes:

Ø  If you want something that explorers these themes more deeply, I recommend the Danish film “The Hunt.”

Ø  Andrew Garfield has only been working in film since 2007, but the variety of roles he has done is impressive.

Ø  They never say what the boys catch under the bridge, but after some research I’m pretty sure it is an eel from the family Anguillidae.  You can clearly see the pelvic fins in one shot, and the dorsal, caudal, and anal fins are connected.  Plus, it just looks like an eel.

Ø  Did anyone else immediately recognize the bully as Pyp from “Game of Thrones?”