THE BOYS ARE BACK directed by Scott Hicks, written by Allan Cubitt, from the novel by Simon Carr, with Clive Owen, Nicholas McAnulty and George MacKay. A Maple release. 104 minutes. Opens Friday (September 25). For venues, times and trailers, see Movies.
The Hollywood chestnut says “Never act with children or animals,” but Clive Owen’s not buying it – the kids part anyway.[rssbreak]
He couldn’t wait to work with his young co-stars in The Boys Are Back, the story of Joe, a sportswriter who reconnects with his children when his wife dies.
“I was excited about working with kids,” he says, baby blues flashing. “It’s a challenge, sure. Kids expose any bad acting, any acting at all, really. They’re real. It’s not honed. You can’t contrive too much and you have to be available and open.”
Nicholas McAnulty is superb as Artie, the seven-year-old son who gets the benefits of Joe’s “just say yes” style of parenting. Amazingly, this is his first film. In one particularly powerful scene, set in a car, his anger pushes Joe to the brink.
“Every parent relates to having a kid in a funk and having to bring him out,” says Owen. “I kept pushing it. ‘Make it harder for me,’ I kept saying. ‘Parents will relate to that.’ Kids at that age are like manic obsessives. They get into a funk and you can’t get them out of it.”
The elder son, Harry, has a less flashy role, but he, too, shows immense skill.
“He’s got one of those expressive faces where you feel for him. This is a kid whose dad hasn’t been around. He’s carrying so much inside him. Just leaving the camera on him while he’s watching me and the other boy relating is moving.”
According to Owen, Hicks had all the right directorial tools to handle the young actors.
“He’s very sensitive and delicate, perfect for working with the kids. His patience is unbelievable, and he knew how to draw things out of them.”
In a separate interview, Hicks tells me that he didn’t do too much rehearsing, something Owen says was the right strategy.
“There’s no point with a little one like McAnulty,” Owen explains. “It’s gonna be different every time, and it has to be unpredictable. You don’t want him to think he has to repeat something. You need it to be alive.”
The Boys Are Back is a relationship movie, and the emotions are deep and real. Almost everyone in it is completely out of control, especially Artie.
“Always remember that he’s grieving,” Owen says intensely. “I’ll forgive him anything. Both he and Joe have just lost something huge in their lives, so we’ve got license to explore. Grief is not clean. It’s very messy.
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Owen on why he loves film festivals:
susanc@nowtoronto.com
