"Boy A" (2008) Grade: A

"Boy A" (2008)

Grade: A

Wow am I happy I saw this film. Weinstein picked it up and distributed it acroos a few theaters in its release in 2008. The year before it had played on TV in the U.K picking up some awards. I always have counted a films release date as when it is released in this country. So for me it is a 2008 release. And its better than 4 of the Best Picture nominees in my opinion. I was hooked onto this film the second it started. I highly highly recommend it. Anthony Garfield deserves heaps of attention and I think it looks like he will have a career based on his performance in this film. Katie Lyons is excellent her as well as is Peter Mullan. Everything about this film interested me. It was never done in a cliched way, the film had respect for its characters, it never really chose a side but asks you do make a decision for yourself which made for challenging viewing. I am convinced his conversation with her in the last 5 minutes is imaginary. Some people complain about the believabililty of the incident which surprises me because I never thought for once second that that was meant to be taken as real and still do not. This must be a very confusing read if you do not know what it is about. Basically it is about a boy who helped kill a 10 year old girl with his best friend at the time. Years later he is 24 and is released under a new name to start a life for himself. We see him attempting to start a life while seeing glimpses of his childhood. Garfield gives one of the best performances of the year creating such a likeable character whose predicament as a child becomes easy to see and the story and performance provide a character that is not at all what you expect to see which makes the story that much more interesting. I highly highly highly recommend it.