Monday Movie Madness

With financial times being what they are, I find that I am spending a lot less money on tickets to the local Krikorian and more time with my remote and cable t.v. I watch a lot of movies over the weekend. Welcome to what will likely become a weekly feature of my blog, Monday Movie Madness, where I will review a movie that I've seen over the weekend. This week I will be reviewing December Boys.

December Boys is a coming of age picture set in 1960s Australia based on the novel of the same name by Michael Noonan. The film revolves around four orphan boys from a Roman Catholic orphanage located in the Australian outback who were all born in the month of December.

The boys (played by Daniel Radcliffe (Maps) of Harry Potter fame, and three unknowns (at least to me), Lee Cormie (Misty), Christian Byers (Sparks) and James Fraser (Spit)) are sent on holiday by the sea to stay with a middle-aged couple. While there, they meet Fearless, a man who claims that he is the risk motorbike rider in the nearby carnival, and his wife, Teresa. Having all but given up hope of ever being adopted, the friends are on a seaside holiday one winter when they hear a rumor that a seaside couple are looking to adopt one of the orphans, friendships are tested and new alliances made as the four boys compete for the chance to gain a real family.

I enjoyed this film, but I’m not sure why -- it could have been a number of reasons. The scenery of the Southern Australian coastline was breathtaking. The ensemble acting was good enough, and Daniel Radcliffe is well-practiced at playing an orphan. I think for me, it was that I could relate of all of the characters. There was just something in each of them that touched my heart.

December Boys is a feel good movie, with a melancholy twist. On the Movie Monday scale from 1 to 5, I give it a 3.5 and recommend you all add it to your Net-Flix list.