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HOME arrow Movie Reviews arrow THE HISTORY BOYS
THE HISTORY BOYS Print E-mail
Written by Jed Medina   
Sunday, 10 June 2007

Nicholas Hytner – Director | Alan Bennett - Writer (Screenplay) | Alan Bennett - Writer (Play) | Pádraig Cusack – Producer | Cast include Samuel Anderson, James Corden, Stephen Campbell Moore, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Andrew Knott, Russell Tovey, Jamie Parker, Dominic Cooper, Sacha Dhawan, Samuel Barnett


Film review by Jamie Garwood

The screen adaptation of Alan Bennett’s award-winning play re-unites the director and the original twelve leads from the London cast. This could have caused problems but because of the dynamic chemistry already existing between the cast members, the proof is definitely in the performances. The film is a perfect vehicle for Richard Griffiths, allowing a great theatrical performance to be seen in mainstream cinema, and his Hector is certainly deserving of accolades. It is a pity that Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore), the new teacher who works in a different way to Hector, gets somewhat lost in the shuffle.

I like the story. Eight young men in the 1980s have all passed their A-levels but  are now in limbo as they study for the entry exams for Oxford and Cambridge. This state of having one foot in childhood and the other in adulthood leaves the boys acting beyond their years to convince us they know more than the teachers do.

The direction by Hytner (who directed the play) is not flashy or over-glorifying of the play. The script is witty and the performances are, as expected, first rate.  I liked Russell Tovey as Rudge, the most Yorkshire of the boys  and the outcome of whose entrance exams and interviews is certainly the most surprising. For all the studying the boys do, writer Alan Bennett appreciates that you sometimes need luck in your life. Finally,  the scene in which Irwin first encounters Hector giving a the boys a French lesson  which starts in a boudoir and ends up on the trenches of the First World War is particularly entertaining and it does not patronise the audience by giving us subtitles.

A highly recommended film to watch.

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