Ah, they should make more movies like this. By that I mean ones which are driven by character and not plot. The History Boys is a bit like an R-rated Dead Poets Society, at least in form. The substance is really quite different. The mentor, instead of being harmless and inspirational like Robin Williams, likes to take his male students for rides on his motorcycle so that he can make them do ... naughty things. Strangely enough, this teacher (played delightfully by Richard Griffiths) is also harmless! The movie makes his behavior acceptable and even funny; a note-worthy achievement in itself. I really like that the film was able to make light of what are usually such serious, depressing issues. Quite an original take on a group of young British men as they finish their entrance exams to Oxford and Cambridge. The “inspirational learning” scenes are so much better than the ones in DPS (which I also love). They mostly take place in French and are so intellectually stimulating that they make you wish you had gone to a British prep school, even if you had to endure the creepy motorcycle rides! I love that this movie just has so much life. Everything from the back-and-forth banter, to the luscious green scenery, to the boys’ (mostly homosexual) passion is endowed with so much vivacity. Even the bittersweet (and slightly miscalculated) ending could not dampen the joyful memories I have of watching this film.
Critic's Review.
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