Movie Review: The Boys Are Back

To put it simply this is a chick flick for guys, or maybe a dude flick, or maybe a father movie. American media is flooded with romantic films about a boy getting the girl, the girl getting the boy, or some combination thereof. Luckily The Boys Are Back is a BBC Film, so we’ll have no of that unrealistic rubbish.

Based on a true story it documents the progression of a father from tragedy to coping to revelation as he deals with living in the role of a single father after the loss of a woman that, in his mind, cannot be replaced. Besides being based on fact, which I always enjoy in a film, the fact that it concentrates on fatherhood instead of motherhood, as our American female-centric media tends to do, strikes hard.

The lessons learned and trials conquered through the film do much to endear the fatherly spirit and shuck the seeming need for women in our lives. Our culture has created a manifest dependence on women, and endowed them with some sort of mystical powers that we believe somehow create a necessity for women in childrearing. I believe that is a mix of both archaic traditions and inequality.

We’ve been bombarded for years with the rhetoric that a woman can do anything a man can, but no one has seemed to make a move to ensure the opposite is held true by law as well, that a man can do anything a woman can. This movie makes that statement in a well-rounded, heart-warming, and occasionally tear-jerking package.

This film is a new addition to my “must watch” list for my friends and family and as a recent release should be available at most libraries and video stores. For a bit of male empowerment, inspiration, or simply a good movie to watch I recommend The Boys Are Back.