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Directed by Scott Hicks, The Boys Are Back is a moving and humorous love story between journalist Joe Warr and his two sons, from different marriages, who find themselves living in a boys-only household following the death of Joe’s second wife.
Based on a memoir by Simon Carr, The Boys Are Back is a character driven film about family relationships. The film is a unique take on a modern family that sees Joe Warr, a top flight UK sports writer, fumbling his way through fatherhood when he becomes responsible for two sons following the tragic loss of his wife.
Joe (Clive Owen) moved to Australia when he fell in love with Australian equestrian Katy (Laura Fraser). Together they enjoy an idyllic family life with their young son, Artie (Nicolas McAnulty), living in a home in a gully near the coast.
Joe is erudite, opinionated, chauvinistic, funny, self-obsessed, likes a drink and, as he sometimes remembers, is also a father. His life is suddenly turned upside down when Katy dies tragically of cancer, leaving him devastated, and with a grieving six-year-old Artie, whom he barely knows.
Uncertain of six-year-old Artie’s needs, Joe fears the prospect of his ever-capable mother-in-law Barbara (Julia Blake) taking over. Joe chooses to go it alone and, throwing the rulebook out the window, devises a new philosophy: Just Say Yes.
This parenting approach leads to many humorous moments which are complicated further when Joe’s 14-year-old son from his previous marriage, Harry (George MacKay), decides to rejoin his dad in Australia. Joe’s ‘no rules’ world swiftly moves from the charm of The Lost Boys to a semi-feral hog heaven.
Joe’s attempt at paradise is met by numerous obstacles: Harry has abandonment issues to settle with him, Barbara is appalled by the lack of structure and discipline in Artie’s life…and then there’s Laura (Emma Booth).
Laura is mum to little Lucy from Artie’s school and although she likes Joe, she begins to suspect his philosophy might be an irresponsible disguise for laziness. Joe readily relies on Laura’s help, but has never so much as asked her on a date. Although Laura hides her disappointment, the frozen chicken defrosting in the family bathtub is the last straw…
Events finally get out of hand when Joe gambles on leaving his sons for a weekend work commitment. In his absence, local teenagers invade the house. Joe’s newfound family is shattered and he is forced to confront his own inadequacies in his efforts to reunite the boys.
The result: A new social unit – a father and two sons living in a household without women. Like an experiment in a satellite, free from earthly influences.
The Boys Are Back charts Joe’s moving and humorous journey from part time dad to full-on fatherhood; teaching him how to deal with his own grief and, for the first time, tune in to the needs of his sons Artie and Harry.
THE BOYS ARE BACK opens in Cinemas around Australia on Thursday, 12 November 2009. Click Here to view the movie trailer on YouTube.
WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO SEE ‘THE BOYS ARE BACK’
Sorry all double movie passes have been won.
For the giveaway question ‘Tell us the title of one other movie directed by Scott Hicks’ we would have accepted one of the following answers: Shine; Snow Falling on Cedars; Hearts in Atlantis; No Reservations; and Glass: a portrait of Phillip in twelve parts.
Winners of a Double Movie Pass to See THE BOYS ARE BACK are:
D. Russ (QLD)
B. Harvey (NSW)
M. Flynn (VIC)
J. Coyle (SA)
C. Dunne (VIC)
M. Leary (VIC)
K. Schmidt (QLD)
M. Dewsbury (NSW)
J. Szubert (NSW)
T. Denney (NSW)
Congratulations to all our winners. If you would like to be in with a chance to snap up future giveaways offered by Australian Women Online, please join our mailing list, or if you’re already a member, don’t miss out on the next giveaway – check your email regularly!