Review: The History Boys
A cast made up almost entirely of intelligent teenage boys. An 80's soundtrack. University jokes. Frederick Neeshay. Rufus Wainwright on the end credits. STEPHEN CAMPBELL MOORE!!!! It was inevitable that I would love this film. The History Boys is the film version of the successful Alan Bennett play of the same name, and it's about a group of boys from a Sheffield grammar school in the 1980s who are trying to get into Oxford.
I love films about school/education (yes, I am ridiculously sad) and especially ones set in the '80s, and when you throw Stephen Campbell Moore, who I fell in love with in the acetastic Bright Young Things, into the mix you can't really lose. This one also happened to have many hilarious moments as well as very touching ones too, and a cast of great actors. In fact it's the exact same cast who played the parts in the stage version, which I now very much wish I'd seen.
The film wasn't entirely perfect - it was quite long and there were some scenes of discussion which needed either livening up or cutting. Still, I would completely recommend The History Boys and I really hope it does well. It's lovely to see a British film that is as fun and heart-warming as its European contemporaries, and I hope I will be able to say the same about my other eagerly-awaited British film, Starter For Ten, when it's released in a few weeks.
| | | Permalink 
