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Movie Review for History Boys, The
Movie Review for
History Boys, The
|
History Boys, The | | |
| Also known as: | |
86 Reviews total.
Release date: 11/21/2006
Run length: 104 mins.
Categories:
Art/Foreign
,
Comedy
,
Drama
,
Adaptation
,
Teen
Summary:
Centers on an unruly class of bright, funny teenage boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a college degree. Bounced between their maverick English teacher, a young and shrewd professor hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to sift through it all to pass the daunting university admissions process. Their journey becomes as much about how education works, as it is about where education leads.
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Brian Juergens
of AfterElton.com (7/0)
While the goal of our heroes may be to make it to university, the film's focus is clearly the jou...
By
Philip Martin
of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (7/0)
.. gentle and sweet, ..all the more charming for its faith in its presumptive audience. It's hear...
By
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/0)
Full of energy, ideas and fine acting.
By
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/0)
Not a history-making movie, but a master class in acting courtesy of Tony winner Richard Griffith...
By
Jamie Russell
of BBC (7/0)
Think Grange Hill rewritten by WH Auden: slightly fusty but wickedly witty.
By
Wesley Morris
of Boston Globe (7/0)
...a shrewdly acted, bittersweet comedy...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Sean O'Connell
of Charlotte Weekly (7/0)
The unique duplication of stage cast to screen cast might be the most exciting thing about this c...
By
Michael Phillips
of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
...worth seeing...
By
Peter Rainer
of Christian Science Monitor (7/0)
Bennett captures the racy, joshing, embattled atmosphere inside a British boarding school better ...
By
Jules Brenner
of Cinema Signals (7/0)
A cleverly entertaining if somewhat acerbic, hyper-paced romp into British academic territory.
By
Edward Douglas
of ComingSoon.net (7/0)
Captures the magic with an almost seamless transition to the screen and only a few lulls that rev...
By
Harvey S. Karten
of Compuserve (7/0)
Though a filmed play, where as would thousands of people without access to The National Theatre o...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Chris Vognar
of Dallas Morning News (7/0)
The History Boys is best when it crackles with the passion of ideas about the function and import...
By
Emanuel Levy
of EmanuelLevy.Com (7/0)
Though witty and entertaining, Hytner's film is too theatrical and schematic, accentuating the pl...
By
Ian Nathan
of Empire Magazine (7/0)
A display of rich, humane, and often daring writing, and some classy acting from the mature folk,...
By
Eric Lurio
of Entertainment Insiders (7/0)
Some have compared this film to
By
Lisa Schwarzbaum
of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
The movie adaptation has been lifted from the theater with original cast and director Nicholas Hy...
By
Eric D. Snider
of EricDSnider.com (7/0)
A wonderfully literary, wordy, and wise film.
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
David Noh
of Film Journal International (7/0)
There's a whiff of the canned here; these actors may have played their parts once too often for t...
By
Anne Gilbert
of filmcritic.com (7/0)
...works nearly as well on screen as it would on stage.
By
Anne Gilbert
of filmcritic.com (7/0)
an ably immortalized version of a simple coming-of-age en masse drama that works nearly as well o...
By
Joe Utichi
of FilmFocus (7/0)
Original, on the big screen at least, and entertaining in spite of its problems, The History Boys...
By
Brett Buckalew
of FilmStew.com (7/0)
The closest mirror image of Republican Mark Foley is Mr. Hector, an unconventional educator with ...
By
MaryAnn Johanson
of Flick Filosopher (7/0)
[T]oo stagey, and yet it lacks the vital energy of the stage production it is adapted from...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Rick Groen
of Globe and Mail (7/0)
It's chatty, it's wordy, but a passion for the well-written word lies at the thematic heart of th...
By
Peter Canavese
of Groucho Reviews (7/0)
The greatest adventure and saddest irony--taught alike by teachers to students and students to te...
By
Kirk Honeycutt
of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
...a witty but uncinematic production.
By
Bruce Westbrook
of Houston Chronicle (7/0)
The film becomes a sermonette on tolerance. But with its one-sidedness, it fails to practice what...
By
John Coulbourn
of Jam! Movies (7/0)
A delightful thought-provoker that will have you questioning what constitutes a good education an...
By
Robert Roten
of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
What lifts this film above the average is the extremely clever, erudite and witty dialogue.
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Carina Chocano
of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
A lively and entertaining disquisition on the purpose and uses of knowledge in a world that cares...
By
Gabriel Shanks
of Modern Fabulousity (7/0)
The move to celluloid has defanged the piece, leaving a shaggy, smartassed and sentimental dramed...
By
Kevin N. Laforest
of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
A stimulating, rather unique variation on a familiar formula.
By
Ken Hanke
of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (7/0)
In the world of movies, it's a rare treat to find anything as sophisticated and witty as Alan Ben...
By
David Edelstein
of New York Magazine (7/0)
The movie is brilliant and infectious, much like Bennett's voice: English-deadpan but never snide...
By
Lou Lumenick
of New York Post (7/0)
...essentially filmed theater, with minimal, and usually clumsy, attempts to take the action out ...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Stephen Holden
of New York Times (7/0)
...ferociously engaging...
By
Stephen Holden
of New York Times (7/0)
The current of intellectual energy snapping through the ferociously engaging screen adaptation of...
By
David Denby
of New Yorker (7/0)
The History Boys is alive on the screen.
By
Jan Stuart
of Newsday (7/0)
Griffiths' brilliantly rumpled academic with recklessly roving hands is matched by the disarming ...
By
John A. Nesbit
of Old School Reviews (7/0)
refreshing--a film that doesn't insult the audience's intelligence
By
Frank Swietek
of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
An intelligent but hardly momentous recycling of an old formula; and as such it's mostly amusing ...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Nathan Rabin
of Onion AV Club (7/0)
The History Boys boasts a dazzling verbal cleverness%u2014the gleeful rat-a-tat of snappy banter ...
By
Roger Moore
of Orlando Sentinel (7/0)
Taking a production pretty much intact from stage to screen robs it of its surprises. The cast se...
By
Cole Haddon
of Orlando Weekly (7/0)
Unfortunately, the staid production never manages to justify the leap from stage to screen.
By
Cynthia Fuchs
of PopMatters (7/0)
During a mock-interview, Dorothy lays out the film's simultaneous awareness and exploitation of i...
By
Glenn Kenny
of Premiere Magazine (7/0)
There's no one today writing English dialogue as sharp as Bennett's, and hearing it delivered exp...
By
Mark Pfeiffer
of Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema (7/0)
It's too bad that the film loses its way because The History Boys asks some interesting questions...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Pam Grady
of Reel.com (7/0)
It is still an excellent adaptation, Bennett's wit and the fine cast surviving and ultimately tri...
By
Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone (7/0)
...Bennett's dialogue sparkles and skewers with killer wit. Dig in.
By
Jim Lane
of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
...despite all the earnestness...the characters and their tribulations never engage our sympathy ...
By
Stephanie Zacharek
of Salon.com (7/0)
Disappointingly overworked and mechanical.
By
Sean Means
of Salt Lake Tribune (7/0)
The final delight of The History Boys is realizing that these charming young actors... will now g...
By
Mick LaSalle
of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
...an intelligent misfire.
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Mick LaSalle
of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
...an intelligent misfire.
By
William Arnold
of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
...the result somehow doesn't add up to a coherent drama.
By
William Arnold
of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
...the result somehow doesn't add up to a coherent drama.
By
Moira MacDonald
of Seattle Times (7/0)
...It's a rare pleasure to see a film that assumes literacy on the part of its audience.
By
Rich Cline
of Shadows on the Wall (7/0)
A bracingly involving school drama that's lively, smart and extremely pointed.
By
Jason Clark
of Slant Magazine (7/0)
The heavy lifting is left mainly to the performers, who virtually all make the grade. It's the di...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
Surprisingly thin gruel considering all the fuss over the theatrical presentation.
By
Angela Baldassarre
of Sympatico.ca (7/0)
Easily compared to Dead Poet's Society, the British classroom comedy is unable to shake its stagy...
By
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
of TheMovieChicks.com (7/0)
I was sad when school let out. The characters are so rich I wanted to spend more time with them.
By
Richard Schickel
of TIME Magazine (7/0)
It has a flow and an intimacy that the often awkward theatrical version lacked.
By
Dave Calhoun
of Time Out (7/0)
[The film] offers a sly mix of broad comedy, tender wordplay and heartfelt subversion.
By
Ken Fox
of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
Alan Bennett's sentimental play about a group of young 'Oxbridge' hopefuls comes to the screen mo...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Urban Cinefile Critics
of Urban Cinefile (7/0)
A hugely enjoyable outing of subtle humour, witty words and a keen insight into human nature and ...
By
Claudia Puig
of USA Today (7/0)
...an erudite, sharply written film with consummate performances, but its origins on the stage ar...
By
Claudia Puig
of USA Today (7/0)
...an erudite, sharply written film with consummate performances, but its origins on the stage ar...
By
Leslie Felperin
of Variety (7/0)
Auds coming cold to this largely faithful adaptation of Alan Bennett's clever but contrived class...
By
Matthew Turner
of ViewLondon (7/0)
The entire cast are superb - the fact that the boys played the same roles on stage pays off brill...
By
David Germain
of Associated Press (3/4) No reference
The History Boys feels too much like a filmed play, and filmed not all that gracefully.
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Ray Greene
of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
It’s rare that a movie succeeds almost purely on the basis of non-cinematic elements, but The His...
By
Hedy Weiss
of Chicago Sun-Times (3/4) No reference
...smart filmmaking.
By
Michael Booth
of Denver Post (3/4) No reference
There are no spontaneous moments on screen: The characters aren't reacting to each other; they're...
By
Jeff Vice
of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (6/1) No reference
Character actor [Richard] Griffiths ensures that the film is watchable enough.
By
Richard Roeper
of Ebert & Roeper (3/4) No reference
It gave me the creeps.
By
Loey Lockerby
of Kansas City Star (3/4) No reference
It forces you to think about complicated issues while still being witty and engaging. You can’t e...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Pete Hammond
of Maxim (3/4) No reference
It is hard to imagine what possible point there was in turning it into a movie. Nothing MOVES.
By
Stephen Whitty
of Newark Star-Ledger (3/4) No reference
The play, however, has been heavily cut and the boys blend together, as director Nicholas Hytner ...
By
Shawn Levy
of Oregonian (3/4) No reference
The film feels like a pedestrian delivery system for other people's brilliant work.
By
Jack Garner
of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (3/4) No reference
Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George and The Crucible) adapts Alan Bennett's hit play with...
By
Lawrence Toppman
of Charlotte Observer (6/1) Not Reachable
Lust, love, death and homosexuality (an inevitable topic in British school pictures) each hold th...
By
Mary F. Pols
of Contra Costa Times (6/1) Not Reachable
Having created this moral confusion for the audience, Bennett sweeps it all away with a mushy, se...
Reviews of History Boys, The
By
Rene Rodriguez
of Miami Herald (6/1) Not Reachable
A funny thing happened to The History Boys on the way to the screen. The players are the same, th...
By
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) Not Reachable
History Boys fails because Nicholas Hytner, who also directed it onstage, didn't rethink it for t...
Movie Distributors
Fox Searchlight Pictures Production Companies
BBC Films
National Theatre Company
Free Range Films
DNA Films
McDonald & Rutter
History Productions Movie Studios
Fox Searchlight Pictures
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