It wasn't the happy, colourful film of teenage love I was lead to believe by the picture chosen to advertise it on Netflix, but it was a very interesting and rewarding story. I actually liked it, despite the complete lack of nudity.
The twinned stories surrounding the main character, Jonas are brought together brilliantly and I would have liked to have seen more of both, perhaps it could have been a two part film, because I think there was a lot more to say. Regardless of that it still worked very well and I thought it was directed tastefully and with care.
There were no stand out performances from anyone, because it's just not that kind of film. They are all exactly what the roles needed.
I did feel sorry for Jonas, nothing went right for him and I think that is something we can all relate to, as well as feel judged by.
I did miss one or two bits as I was on eBay looking for a Gameboy with Tetris!
Plot summary
Boys (Jonas) is a mystery told in two separate timelines. In the first, it's 1997 and Jonas is entering 9th grade. A new boy in school immediately catches his eye. Perhaps it's the bad-boy scar on his cheek or his devil-may-care attitude, but Jonas is smitten. The two boys quickly become friends and before long are skipping class to kiss in an empty gymnasium. In the film's other timeline, it's 2015 and the excitement of a teenager in love has been replaced with the sorrow of a man who can't escape the past. The adult version of Jonas (Félix Maritaud, outstanding in this year's sexually graphic Sauvage and last year's ImageOut favorite BPM) is a broken man. His boyfriend has thrown him out for cheating on him a few too many times, and he's been arrested for getting into a fight at Boys, a local gay bar. There's something about the bar that seems to set him off. He meanders through life still carrying that same old Game Boy, trying to fill a hole that can't be filled. So what happened to turn this innocent teenager into the sad, angry man that we see now? Boys (Jonas) is an engrossing mystery that will keep you guessing from the first minute to the last. As it moves back and forth between its two timelines, the film succeeds as both a sweet coming-of-age love story and a dark suspense thriller. As these two perfectly-told stories intertwine, it makes for a totally unique and truly special cinematic experience. -- Stephen K. Weisenreder
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Movie Reviews
Cravings for a Gameboy.
chronicle of a life
Beautiful cinematography, admirable performances, bitter story, inspired storytelling, admirable performances. And a story about fall, secret and fight for survive. Almost a pretext for a touching portrait about ages and experiences of a young man in war with his past. It is one of films who could be defined as good or bad for the measure who you recognize parts of biography of yourself in its scenes. Because, at sin or virtue, it did not gives a specific story. Only embroidery of facts from past and consequances of present , without a clear connection. So, just a film who I love. First for great job of Felix Maritaud. Being subjectiv in profound sense.
Something's missing, somewhere...
This is quite a well put together little drama recounting the life of "Jonas" through the twin threads of his late childhood and of a current day thirty-something. Félix Maritaud plays the elder incarnation in a typically gritty and plausible way (though he does look like he could do with a good meal!) with Nicolas Bauwens as his younger, largely conformist, self. My problem is that the narrative that gets us from person A to person B - via a new schoolfriend "Nathan" doesn't quite work. There is an incident, which we do discover at the end, but it leaves me with a feeling of incompleteness. Perhaps that's Christophe Charrier's plan - that there are no "happy endings", but I am struggling to fathom just how Jonas got onto this path of self destruction and his life, so out of hand in the first place. As with loads of French gay cinema, it is filmed at night - via street light - and is all the more evocative for that.