December Boys Movie Reviews

Jesus Christ said …“The World is a Bridge, pass over it, but build no houses upon it. He, who hopes for a day, may hope for eternity; but the World endures but an hour. Spend it in prayer, for the rest is unseen." – but did it ever stop human being desire to built a house, have a family, feeling connected to another human being through a relation if not blood? Never. 

The over rated phrase “you came alone and you will leave the world alone” might have fascinated many,  like it did to me but it never stopped me in exploring new people, getting attached to new face, making another friend. We all do fall into new relations every now and then apart from the fact that we always had a family to fall back onto. But have you ever thought of those hopeful eyes in the big queue of some orphanage who stand all dressed whenever asked for with a pleading expression which says “Take me Home” 

December Boys is the story of such four orphans “Maps, Spits, Spark and Misty”, who got their name as December boys with the fact that they were found in December month in some or the other year. Apart from month they also shared a beautiful bond of friendship which never made them yearn to be adopted but “After that summer nothing would ever be the same again”

Two of the orphanage's benefactors, Bandy (Jack Thompson) and Skipper (Kris McQuade), an older couple offered to house the kids during the Christmas season, and December boys get this opportunity as their birthday gift. Four friends start their voyage and reach small cove where they fly like the free bird and explore the world which is unseen to them. They realize sky is way beyond bigger than what they could see from the window of Roman Catholic orphanage, and on just one vacation trip they all learn nuances of being in the four walls of a orphanage dealing which routine survivals and  what Life actually holds and offers in reality.They understand what it takes to Love, How it feels to Loose, what it means to Win. They also learn to hate, envy and compete among themselves when one fine night, Misty accidentally overhears the conversation that their neighbors (Mr. & Mrs. Fearless) plan  to adopt a kid. When he fails to keep this a secret for long, he find even Spark and Spit competing with him in proving themselves “the best choice”, while Map’s (older of the lot and least interested in being adopted now) was exploring sex and ciggies from the local spoilt child Lucy (Teresa Palmer).

What happens next? Who is the chosen one? is worth to learn.

Australia born LA settled director Rod Hardy has an edge when it comes to dealing with intricacies of vacillating emotion. Looking at his earlier directorial ventures you would find a pattern in his filmmaking and his never ending focus of “Bad is good too”. He has espoused interchangeable techniques once again and has done justice to Michael Noonan (author of the book, the story has been adapted from) and Marc Rosenberg (Screenplay writer)version of the book.

Performances are notable, Maps (Daniel Radcliffe) is our very own Harry Potter has stripped down his image and got an opportunity to play a real life role. Daniel has tried doing justice to the role of the intense grown up teenage, who has lost hope of being adopted and is busy experiencing the youth secrets like love and sex. At places he looked too stony, so I would not like to vouch for his acting skills in real life roles.

Other from the lot has my most favorite “Misty” (Lee Cormie) who is also the narrator of the story played the youngest among all kid who is religious and is much matured in approach than other and plays the central character as well. Lee has done the fabulous job of the God fearing moralist kid and his expression speaks louder than words in the movie.

Spits (James Fraser) is narcissistic in nature and idolizes Maps, where as Sparks (Christian Byers) on the other hand is a happy go lucky person busy watching lingerie ads and smoking and takes up anything if thrown as a challenge. Both the boys have done justice to their characters and you love watching them with all the mischief.

Apart from them the old and the young couple had acted as if they were tailor made for the role and Lucy (Teresa Palmer) as a seductress spoilt gal is for sure not to be missed as she leaves an impact with whatever she had on her plate.

Dany Cooper editing is tight, and you don’t miss the flow of the story. Locales are something worth a mention. The script demanded for a cove which is beautiful yet deserted, It was difficult to find so the film was shot on Kangaroo Island which is off the coast of South Australia. Most of the scenes between Lucy and Map’s is shot at Remarkable Rocks in the Flinders Chase National Park, which are mesmerizing too. The whole locale is put together in such a way that it gives you a feel of “home away from home” and a place you yearn to be. Though you will be disappointed, if want some sea journey experiences.

“December Boys” is not a preacher movie that talks about adoption. Rather it reflects the life of orphans and how unluckily they never learn anything first hand. In the movie we see how all the four friend get this opportunity disguised in terms of birthday gift to explore the realities of life. They learn the definition of jealousy, insecurity, love, lust, desires, bitterness, rejection and loss of loved once. Most of the time they get to learn things by either accidental revelations (Map’s exploring first ever sex experience) or by looking at other’s feeling (Teresa's fighting with Fearless' for not being able to have their own kid or when Mr. McAnsh's mourns over his wife diagnosed cancer but still never forgets the boy’s Christmas gifts). You might not cry seeing the movie but it surely leaves you with afterthought on something called as “Adoption”

I have my own emotions attached to “adoption”… which I would not like to barge in here, but I have a request to many who feel sorry to see a kid hanging on your a/c car window at traffic signals, if you can’t bring them home, try to give them home.

P.S:Mom Dad … there has been moments when I had disagreed to you … but then I realized, at least I had someone to disagree to. Thanks for giving me HOME.

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A Few days back I got my hands on the DVD of December boys and the tagline on it caught my eyes, which says “After that summer nothing would ever be the same again.” I bought this DVD and copied it on my computer and then forgot about it but yesterday I watched this movie. And I will say that this movie is a perfect blend of human relationships and friendship.

"December Boys" is a refreshingly gentle treatment of familiar themes such as the inevitability of change, the dashing of youthful illusions and mutability of family. Enhanced by an exotic locale, the movie overcomes a well-trodden narrative path and unflinchingly brandishes its sentimentality as it stakes out its crowd-pleasing territory.

   Plot: In the late 1960's, four close-knit orphans Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Spit (James Fraser), and Spark (Christian Byers) in Australia, called the December Boys because they were all born in the same month. As the film begins, all four are once again passed over by an adoptive couple--and disappointed once again in their collective dream of leaving the place and becoming part of a real family.

But fate steps in, as the foursome gets the life-altering chance to go for Christmas vacation to visit an elderly couple that lives by a gorgeous cove on the sea. Having all but given up hope of ever being adopted, the friends are on a seaside holiday one summer when they hear a rumor that a seaside couple is looking to adopt one of the orphans, friendships are tested and new alliances made as the four boys compete for the chance to gain a real family. By the time the holiday is over, all four have had an unforgettable life experience that will shape the rest of their days.

   Acting: Daniel Radcliffe branches out from his iconic role as Harry Potter with this terrific performance as Maps, the eldest of the four orphan boys. As a slightly hardened teen who secretly longs for love and stability, this character is very different from Harry (despite the orphan thread that links the two together), and Radcliffe inhabits him completely. "What's the big deal about having parents anyway?" Maps retorts to his summer fling Lucy (Teresa Palmer) and this shows his feeling of not having parents. He may not have much dialog, but the sensitivity of his character comes across beautifully.

The other three boys also give natural, believable performances, especially Lee Cormie, who is the film’s narrator and central character Misty. His portrayal of that bespectacled, artistic, smaller-than-the-others Misty is nuanced and brave, quite the accomplishment for a kid who has only just turned fifteen. Spit (James Fraser) and Spark (Christian Byers), the middle boys, are adventurous types prone to sneaking smokes and perusing lingerie ads in magazines. The rest of the gifted cast--including iconic Aussie actor Jack Thompson, of classics like Breaker Morant and The Man from Snowy River--all add to the overall quality of this well- acted telling of an emotional, but never sappy, story of adolescent longing and coming of age.

   Direction: A sweet end-of-summer respite from Down Under, "December Boys" is a nostalgia-driven coming-of-age drama about four Catholic orphans from the outback given a seaside reprieve from the nuns and heat.

Australian Rod Hardy use all that experience to make a film that speaks to the emotions of childhood which resonates into adult experience. Using the incredible landscapes of Oz as a key element of the story, Hardy creates a visual cornucopia that parallels the emotional journey the four orphans take through the course of the film. His adept handling of many of the most universal life passages--first kiss, loss of parents, love/hate of siblings, dealing with the death of a loved one--bring a strong realism to the story adapted from a novel by Michael Noonan.

The landscape of Kangaroo Island adds vast scale to this relatively small movie, opening our eyes to natural geographical wonders, becoming a character in itself, with its inhabitants mere players on its grounds.

Female figures of maternal and erotic desire slowly rise from the gorgeous sea like goddesses, black stallions stomp about the water's edge looking to catch fish for a cat, a crotchety sailor waxes rhapsodic about a legendary fish of immense size, and the woman caring for the boys, Skipper (Kris McQuade), soon finds herself debilitated by cancer. Life and death, reality and myth, all swirl about in the golden sunlight, as do gratingly cutesy daydreaming sequences in which Misty imagines the orphanage's nuns congratulating him on finding new parents with energetic cartwheels.

My Verdict: Unfulfilled expectations are shared by all characters regardless of age and situation, and this is the main theme that the audience empathizes with. It is heartbreaking to see their faces light up with hope at the possibility of winning the parent lottery only to be passed on time and time again. Rude awakenings and rejection are themes that most people can relate to after hardened years, but for children to already know it intimately at such an age is what makes December Boys the thoughtful tearjerker it is. I will give this movie 4 and ½ star out of 5.

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