The Boy

Director William Brent Bell

Genre Horror | Thriller

Cast Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, Diana Hardcastle, Jim Norton

Rating PG-13

Release Date January 22nd, 2016

“An American nanny is shocked that her new English family’s boy is actually a life-sized doll. After violating a list of strict rules, disturbing events make her believe that the doll is really alive.”

The Boy is directed by William Brent Bell who is also responsible for the 2012 film The Devil Inside (I doubt he is proud of that). Lauren Cohan took a break from her role as Maggie in the hit AMC series The Walking Dead to take on the lead role and as an actress she cannot seem to break free from uncomfortable living arrangements. As a fan of The Walking Dead I will be the first to admit that it was nice to see her actually shower and put on some clean clothes for once.

The Boy is a unique film in the sense that it almost makes you second guess how you actually feel about the direction of the film. Many horror films, like the first Insidious film for example, start off with plenty of promise and take a ridiculous detour which makes it clear the writers botched an opportunity for a legitimately scary film. There is nothing worse than getting the audience built up to something extremely creepy only to throw it away for no good reason. To me The Boy is in a lot of ways the outlier when it comes to horror movies mainly because it goes right with most movies go left. Once again I'm having a hard time deciding exactly how I feel about the dare to be different approach but I will say the writers deserve some credit for originality and some much needed imagination. 

The Boy has a creative premise and delivers solid acting performances (the boys mother is super creepy) but unfortunately it does suffer from some pacing issues, lulling the audience to sleep at times. But don’t worry, with a runtime just over an hour and a half you should be able to stay awake and you will be happy you did. I feel like The Boy is going to inevitably receive mixed reactions but that is to be expected from the horror genre, particularly films that include creepy dolls and demonic possession. I am actually looking forward to discussing it with people, just to get a feel for other viewpoints. The important thing is that The Boy was entertaining, thought provoking, and not quite what you would expect and the conclusion of the film will take you by surprise. It also leaves the viewer with an uneasy feeling which in my opinion is how you should always leave the theater after watching a horror movie. Recommended.

Dirty Grandpa

Director Dan Mazer

Genre Comedy

Cast Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Mantzoukas

Rating R

Release Date January 22nd, 2016

“Right before his wedding, an uptight guy is tricked into driving his grandfather, a perverted former Army Lieutenant-Colonel “Special Forces” to Florida for spring break.”

Robert De Niro is no stranger to comedic films but he generally plays the buffer role and the laughs he provides are delivered indirectly in some way. Let’s face it, he fits the tough guy role and always has. Fairly unknown director Dan Mazer brings us Dirty Grandpa which intends to provide audiences with a multitalented version of their favorite actor, who is tough, funny, and full of personality. Add in Neighbors star Zac Efron and you have yourself quite the dynamic duo.

I went to see Dirty Grandpa with what I would consider to be level headed expectations, which more or less means I had an idea what I was getting myself into. Raunchy comedies tend to find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to critic appreciation much like graphic horror films or “torture porn” as some call them (think I Spit on Your Grave). Personally I prefer the latter but exceptions do exist, such as the star-studded hit comedy This Is The End which certainly pushed the envelope on raunchy comedy. Perhaps critics simply hate to see A-List stars like De Niro stoop to this level as they would say but big deal, let the guy have a little fun every once in a while.

Dirty Grandpa is an entertaining film that has enough for everybody starting with De Niro as a sex-crazed old man determined to act on his late wife’s final wishes to get back on the horse sort of speak. A stuck up soon to be married walking and talking Abercrombie and Fitch billboard played by Zac Efron who drives around in his fiancé’s pink Mini Cooper which basically sums up who wears the pants in that relationship. Michael Mantoukas is a drug dealing nut job and he basically plays his same exact role as Rafi from the hit FX show The League. Honestly, I could watch this guy all day. 

Is the acting great? No. Does anyone involved deserve any sort of accolade for their work on the film? Again, no. What matters is the simple fact that right from the beginning the jokes start coming and never really stop. Some hit and some fall flat but this is the old fashioned method of quantity over quality and I am more than okay with that. If you think De Niro trying to nail a college-coed on spring break while doing whatever it takes to allow his prude grandson the opportunity to finally have some fun in his adult life might be entertaining than you could do much worse than Dirty Grandpa. Oh yeah, the film actually has some heart and somewhat of a message to it as well believe it or not.

Side note, an elderly couple did walk out of the theater after De Niro emphatically expressed his need for sexual relations due to a dry spell that lasted well over a decade. All I can say is if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen people.