Recently, in which Russian directors are trying to shoot Russian comedies in the American manner, it seemed that there was nothing to watch. But here is a film that will give a sincere smile and will not smell stiflingly American and crooked humor.
From the film itself, it smells something Soviet, but not mothballed, but so bright and warm.
The main character (actor Semyon Treskunov) resembles the Eralashevsky hero. Something so close from childhood and quite nostalgic.
Everything is beautiful in the film - and the picture, and the cast, and the unbeaten plot. The plot, by the way, should be given a separate place of honor - everything is twisted incredibly, but vitally, although not immediately believed. The events of the film return to that distant time of beautiful youth. With her problems, hormones, dreams and of course love.
' A Good Boy' this is the kind of movie the whole family can go to. What about vulgar Russian comedies in their usual form, in principle, is not available.
Nice surprise. Conformity between expectation and reality.
Great movie, good humor. It's been a long time since our filmmakers spiced up with ads. Usually, good good Russian films bypass mass cinemas and praise them mainly only at film festivals, and they do not reach the masses.
Karas showed an excellent combination of the quality of Soviet cinema with embellished modern reality. It’s like an ordinary Russian boy, and he’s really good. He has no anger, he is talented beyond his years and dreams of making the world around him better and more beautiful. But he faces various problems on his way: love, misunderstanding, family. He is not afraid to speak the truth and stand up for the truth.
The acting is amazing. I always believed that talented actors and talented directors remained in Russia. And all this vulgarity, flat humor and the desire to cut down money that came to us from the 90s fades away, and people are just tired of it.
Only to support this film registered on the search.
I have not seen anything like this for a long time, the latest Russian masterpieces cast a shadow of tastelessness on our theater school. It seemed that young actors would never be able to play like in the good old Soviet times. But no, we still have talent.
I really liked the dynamic plot of the film, filled with surprises until the very end. After watching our TV, it seems that you can only joke below the belt or use the same rut of jokes that have already reached your ears. No, you can't joke and it's interesting.
There are a lot of modern dances in the film - fashionable, youthful and in moderation.
The film is very bright (this is not a series of "school" on the first). Each actor played 100 percent and it is undoubtedly happy.
It is a pity that such a film has collected a small cash register. I wish such directors and screenwriters and aspiring actors success in professional development. I would like to see such people supported by our state cinema.
In the past, a lot of soulful films were shot in our country. Films about life, not just festival films filled with meaning and subtext, they were films about people, simple but not meaningless. ' A good boy' just such - a bright, a little sad - film for the soul
The story is as old as the world: ninth grader Kohl and his life realities, sometimes funny, sometimes touching, sometimes sad. Parents, school, friends, first love. What was so important to us in 14-15 years brought to the forefront. While watching, I felt nostalgic about the wonderful sense of omnipotence and omniscience that lives in us in adolescence. There are many funny moments in the film and the soundtrack is very pleasant. Back plans are like a sketch sheet.
Semen Treskunov does not play the main role - he lives in this world, he is very natural, which, in principle, is not surprising, because he is a teenager, one of the prototypes of the main character. Khabensky and Efremov appear in the already familiar roles of a strange person and a crooked person, respectively. They play, and because of this they lose to the main character, because life is always more interesting than games. Alexander Pal in the role of a computer nerd and Tatiana Dogileva in the role of head teacher are banal and template, but so natural that they warm the soul and touch the living.
After watching, there is a very pleasant feeling of peace and confidence that everything will be fine, even if the world is imperfect. I think that in 20 years 'The Good Boy' will be considered classics as, for example, 'Moscow does not believe in tears'. For me, this film is a memory. It's like an old unwritten school notebook with drawings in the fields and a sea battle on the back page. Very ordinary at 15 and so expensive at 30, it's a window into the past, a leap into youth.
For those who have known all the bitterness of the Russian film industry, with the exception of rare bright spots, who have seen the sludge behind the logo ' Cinema Foundation' who managed to taste all the charms of domestic nihilism ' creators' 2016 appears truly miraculous. Following the late (relatively world) premiere 'Francophonie' Sokurov was followed by a whole series of different degrees of success of paintings made in Russia. It's the turn of the wonderful 'Good boy'.
The simplest ninth grader Kohl in the center of the plot. The father is an eccentric scientist who instills in the family the rule of 12/36 (sleep for 12 hours and the subsequent 36-hour marathon of wakefulness), and even ' working ' at home. Mother accountant and moron brother in addition. The school is still more fun: a crazy headmaster, an even cooler tenth grader (the headmaster’s daughter), and a stunning English teacher. During the week, Kolya must deal with the cough raised at all the above levels.
What can I say? Most film critics unanimously assess the creation of Oksana Karas as a legacy of Soviet comedies. It is not surprising: the simplest characters, which are a pond in the vastness of our vast, incredibly improbable story, which everyone believes in, as well as damn attractive characters performed by magnificent actors. Efremov burns with napalm, giving out perhaps the best performance ever seen, Khabensky eclipses himself in the role of a collector, but the main and brightest spot is GG - Semyon Treskunov. Remembered for a good comedy with Bondarchuk (yes, it turns out that it happens) ' Ghost', the boy grows as if by leaps and bounds, turning into the same ' bright' future, so many years expected by the domestic audience. With a bright ray ' The Good Boy' passes through the heart, instilling both the lyrical sadness of Unity and the warmth of youth. It's not the mountains that go to Magomed. You have to do it in your conscience. What good luck for those who really try. That good things do happen. A distinctively positive, sincere film that will appeal to not quite finally formed cynics.
I would like to remind everyone who has read this essay once again about the presence of an amazing picture '14+' shot last year. 'Good Boy' perfectly continues most of the ideas laid down by this film.
Something tells me that I will be very similar to the hero Khabensky in the paternal period. Whether to rejoice or to think. . .
P. p. p. p. support the domestic film industry. Today announced the list of films that will receive funding from the Cinema Foundation. A set of Bondarchuks and all sorts of sariks is attached. Help truly good creatures knock these parasites out of the feeder.
p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. p. with. and with great joy I state that the dance of the year goes to the teacher of computer science Stanislav Ilch (Alexander Paly)
It's gonna be "class!" and we're gonna get married.
I was looking forward to the release of The Good Boy. Comedy, not in the style of “Bitter” or “Christmas” with the possibility of family viewing is what you need! It turned out to be not quite a comedy, but it is also not bad.
I liked: light style, ambiguous characters, acting and camera work.
Especially pleased with "Dad" and "Director". This is how teenagers look at their parents - as full of idiots (dad - "bzdaleg"). But in the final, everything falls into place. Dad is next in a difficult moment, scoring on 12/36 mode. The director is a "bad good man." Well, what about these adults? One of the questions of any younger generation.
There were no questions about the headmaster. Dogileva while watching dance talents is chic.
Maybe the plot is rough and unstable, but if it is not faulty, not bad. Would be. If it wasn't for the final. A good ending can make the whole picture. This is the opposite. Well, tell me, why did you have to make this stupid couple at the end? Incompatible. At least someone. Just crossed out half a movie. (And the Indian dance seemed like a good point.)
That's what I didn't like. Bad taste
"Good Boy" implicitly reminded me of two examples of really good movies for teenage children. The first is a fun series about Petrov and Vasechkin, presenting moral questions in the right way and a fairly specific target audience. The second film is, oddly enough, "The Courier", which accurately described a generation of teenagers at the crossroads - without the moral support that their parents had, with seemingly huge prospects, but with an inner emptiness and therefore - the inability to step on the open road. Both the first and second movies are now lacking, and "Good Boy" did not give us hope for the revival of the genre. And frankly, this movie seems to be trying to be a film, but it will not become one.
I will immediately say that he is good (except for the boy, although he is "good" is not clear why). Good atmosphere: the work of the production artist, the work of the colorist, the cameraman - not bad. Stylization, which did not please many, I liked and quite fit into the light intonation chosen by the creators. Good types and proper casting. Almost all the actors are in their place, and their characters are bright and memorable. First of all, talking about “XM”, everyone immediately remembers Dad-Khabensky – this is hardly a compliment to the picture, but the fact that the character has great makings, it is stupid to deny. That's probably all.
Now for the minuses. Since we started talking about characters, we will continue to talk about them. No character is fully developed. There's no one to empathize with. Nobody elicits sympathy. And all this happens for one simple reason - the script is a string of ridiculous stories, anecdotes and amusing cases from the notebooks of the writer and his friends, attracted by the ears of each other. The film is similar to not even the graduation, but intersemester work of a student of VGIK, but with first-rate actors and a good film crew. To the very end, even the main outline of the narrative is not clear - what this boy does, why he does it, what his goal is, what he ultimately comes to. Why are we being shown this? That’s the question in my head I left the cinema.
I’m not going to talk about incomprehensible target audiences and inappropriate scenes—they’ve been talked about enough before. The main thing is that “The Good Boy” once again revealed one big problem of Russian cinema, which is called “the screenwriter” (well, or really normal scripts for some reason do not miss, which is hard to believe). There are good operators, good directors (there are more questions, and still), very, very cool production artists (remember at least the “Duelist” or even the notorious “Earthquake”, which are watchable exclusively thanks to the work of artists). But as for the writers, this is a real catastrophe of modern Russian cinema.
5 out of 10
Boring and stupid. These are the two words that best describe this film. The story about a kind and slightly naive schoolboy seemed interesting to me, immediately there were associations with children's Soviet films. But, it turned out that everything was wrong and the student, rather just stupid. And the screenwriter is probably also, well, or at least strange, because to mix so many absurdities in one movie, it is necessary to manage.
The teacher who drinks with the student and then kisses him, the father who suddenly forbids the whole family to sleep, the headmaster who has fun with the student at the slot machines, the student himself who sprays pepper spray in the headmaster’s face. I wish there were any logical or emotional explanation for all this nonsense. . But, no, the feeling that the characters are doing the first thing that comes to their mind, because the writer wrote the first thing that came to his mind. What's all this about and why? The question, of course, is rhetorical.
Screenplay and directing are weak. Despite the fact that the film is only an hour and a half, already in the middle, you begin to diligently wait for the end of this work. Of the actors, a less pleasant impression was made only by K. Khabensky and I. Pegov. The main character performed by S. Treskunov either overplays or does not play, M. Efremov looks very tired, so much so that this fatigue is literally transmitted to the viewer. A. Pal here is the same as in his other works, the same. The performer of the role of teacher Alice Denisovna does not make any impression at all.
The music in the film is primitive, not remembered at all. And dancing in the gym and mass choreography in the end do not bring any sense at all, just for the sake of showing the shaking parts of the body of schoolchildren, apparently. In general, probably the film is designed primarily for an audience of 13-16 years, then all these puberty dialogues and intricacies can be understood, but remembering myself at this age, I would be bored. There are few events in the film, there is no dynamics usually inherent in youth cinema. Well, the episode with a peeing urban madman - it even does not want to comment. . .
I cannot help but mention the moment when the director sits down at the drum set, which says Whiplash, this is the original title of the American film about musicians (in the Russian box office & #39; Obsession'). This is probably a reference to this painting, but who needs it? Why? It's ridiculous and incomprehensible.
I really wanted the film to be interesting and touching for me, but it turned out to be wrong, and even somehow it became offensive. . .
Empty and uninteresting film, inferior both emotionally and script not the most outstanding ' Apprentice' Serebrennikova, in which, after all, too, a truth-abiding teenager tried to educate and correct adults in accordance with his ideas about the good. Well, distant Plumbum and Jester are completely unattainable ideals of this kind of cinema. Unlike these pictures in 'The Good Boy' everything is softened - and the central character is devoid of charisma and conflicts are very softened. And not comedy, but the level of good irony prevails, and there is no drama. The central formative moment of the picture is a completely incongruous, contrived scene of a teacher and a student drinking. Well, it is as if (adjusted for the level of stakes) the character Yakovleva slept with Plumbum or Dunaevsky in the Courier found a suitcase full of money, and the plot would move on with this assumption.
Efremov played on an even level, and Khabensky plays an eccentric fool-father. The litmus test characterizing the merits of the film as a whole is the work of the ubiquitous Pal. In general, complete nonsense, awkward for the creators, ' Raggy Union' much better.
Despite the holes in the plot and obvious omissions, I really liked the film, easy and not forced with good humor and well-developed characters. I will say at once that the situation in the film is described, to put it mildly, not typical and very controversial, and the tape turned out not for children, it clearly had to be assigned the 18+ category.
On the other hand, I may have been overheated with an atypical situation, because against the background of modern Russian news, situations of this kind, unfortunately, are becoming the norm.
In general, I recommend revisiting Karen Shakhnazarov’s film The Courier, you ask why? Because there is something to compare and think about. These two films are essentially reflections of two eras, namely the decline of the Soviet country and present-day Russia. These two tapes depict the sores of society and something tells me that modern Russian society suffers from a much more dangerous and terrible disease than Soviet.
However, if you do not pay attention to jokes and comic situations in the film, then a serious bell rings in the soul. After all, in this film, we can observe all the sores of society that have leaked into the fried media tabloids, from the use of light drugs and alcohol, to early sexual relations between children and adults.
In the film, you can put a fat minus for the lack of morality and, to put it mildly, understatement due to holes in the plot, but still this tape is worth watching and watching it twice. First time as a comedy. A second time like a tragedy!
Kolya Smirnov (Semyon Treskunov), a student of the 9th grade (15 years at most, or even 14) on September 1 begins an active adult life. First, in a harsh form, he is rude to his father (Konstantin Khabensky), secondly, he invites a girl a year older than himself on a date, and thirdly, he tells the truth to an English teacher. Then more. Kolya Smirnov the whole film crosses the threshold of adult life, here and there getting into new situations for themselves, and the entire acting ensemble plays along with him. I do not understand why Kole got away with outright meanness? the conflict with the director could result in a great insight, but for some reason everything went to naught, dissolved, adjusted to a gray entertainment.
In general, this film does not confront cultural or age strata of society, does not ask questions, does not even laugh - it catches the viewer by involving him in a teenage hormonal explosion with all the accompanying signs of growing up. Only without shocks and extreme measures, this movie turns into an entertaining and cute school theme, right "Good Boy" in the flesh. I can’t remember a single sentence from the movie to be quoted by anyone.
Excellent camera work by Suzanne Musayeva, good casting and more or less decent sound design are the strengths of this film. Let’s see if you were a student yesterday. Those who are older are hopelessly spoiled by Courier and Plumbum. Getting bored...
“Good Boy” brings to mind comparisons with two other films about heroes of the same age category. These are Courier 1986 and Apprentice 2016. With the Courier, the film is partly similar to the character of the main characters: they both love to cut the truth-uterus and are prone to outrage. However, if the hero of Fyodor Dunaevsky challenges the adult world, in which he is cramped and cold, his rebellion is a tearing from the heart of Tsoyev’s “Changes”, sounded in the same year, then the character of Semyon Treskunov does not need to rebel. Courier Ivan has to make his way in the dreary, dying world of late socialism, his vital energy requires application, but finds a way out only in the outrageous antics and bullying of the surrounding adults. The schoolboy Kohl on his way does not meet resistance at all, except for the ban of the eccentric father performed by Konstantin Khabensky on leaving the house after ten in the evening. He doesn’t even have to hear a bad word about himself.
Semyon Treskunov in the role of Kohli is reliable and convincing, although it must be admitted that he does not have to play deep feelings and complex emotions. In addition, the actor, albeit young, but who has a list of 31 works in addition to "The Boy", it is difficult to consider a debutant.
Comparison with the released in the same year, “The Apprentice” concerns not so much the hero as the world around him. “Good boy” looks at the world through the eyes of not even a teenager, but a child who has not yet entered a phase of conflict with the outside world. He sees the world as good and all problems as easy to solve. Instead of a couple of ghouls performed by Bragarnik/Rudnitskaya, the school administration turns into a radiant Efremov - definitely the best acting work in the film - and Doghilev, the most terrible act of which is to make schoolchildren dance polka instead of their usual modern urban dances. Disassembly with the head school bully is allowed easily, quickly and without shedding blood (but not without spilling other liquids), and even bandits ... but it will be a spoiler. The friend of the main character, parents, even the types of “the most beautiful girls in the class”, although they are more similar than the rest, are still contrasted: so, the sharp and angular Alexandra Revenko is contrasted with soft and round in the sense in which it is especially appreciated by adolescents during puberty, Anastasia Bogatyreva.
The Boy could be considered a much lighter and simplified Russian version of Forrest Gump, who is also a good boy and with apparent ease overcame all the obstacles of life, but still there and the obstacles were real, and the lightness came from a completely different source. And the schoolboy Kole is just lucky in life - that's the whole story.
“The Good Boy” exists in a completely fictional reality, cleaned and bleached so much that it is too much even for Channel One. It is time to translate the film into the fiction section. But it is these incredible kindness and lightness surrounding the main character from all sides that unexpectedly bribe and become his main advantages. Probably, it was thanks to them that the film became, for example, the winner of the audience’s vote “KinoPoiska” – a product of a comparable degree of cloudlessness has not appeared in Russian cinema for a long time.
He left me with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the fabulous nature of the plot translates it into a category designed for even younger ages than the age of its main characters. And what is the main idea of the film is that if someone is lucky, then everything is lucky? It's banal. Be a good boy and everything will work out? Outright lies. Dance while you're young? And on the other hand, the jester with them, with ideas, because sometimes you want to distract yourself for at least an hour and a half from the lead abominations of life and give yourself to light and light dreams. As the courier Ivan used to say thirty years earlier, putting on his friend’s coat, “Take it, and dream of something great.”
Another one-off Russian movie with a flashy list of leading actors?
Someone's seen the painting before. Some people do not watch Russian cinema. For those who are watching but haven’t seen it yet, let’s take a look. At least for the cast. Young, but promising Semyon Treskunov, magnificent and not in need of introduction Konstantin Khabensky, inimitable and charismatic Mikhail Efremov.
The title of the film is simple, but is it as simple as it seems? For an hour and a half, a week from the life of an ordinary schoolboy from Moscow is shown. Every day of the week is marked by some event that makes him look at the world differently. He has to get acquainted with the complex, sometimes dangerous world of adults.
So, a guy lives in an ordinary, but with great "quirks" family. The Pope (his role is played by Konstantin Khabensky) is a scientist, works at home, sells dietary supplements, now and then issuing sensational “discoveries”. My mother is calm and agrees with her eccentric husband. Her voice is barely discernible in family discussions, both literally and figuratively. The older brother is an ordinary guy who ascribes to himself resounding victories on the love front and the ill-fated burning of the school annex. Actually, this episode at the beginning of the film is the main thread on the canvas of the film narrative.
Every five minutes, you get the feeling that something is about to happen. And this alluring trick holds the whole movie. And the casket just opened. And here he is the final, traditionally happy, as in fairy tales, with an unconditional resolution of all life collisions and an explanation of what happened next with the main characters in the form of titles.
Everyone in the process of watching the film will be given a chance to remember themselves in adolescence with all the attendant problems. The desire to get the attention of the opposite sex, and not just a girl, but her English teacher, an acute sense of justice, youthful maximalism. There's something about "The Good Boy" from each of us that certainly pays off. The film with its simplicity, albeit superficially, but still reveals some important themes of growing up. At some stage, initially treating the eccentric father with slight contempt, the main character understands the reason for his reclusiveness and desire to get away from all conventions in his “mind”. There will be many such “discoveries”. Throughout the film, the hero is deceived, admits his mistakes, builds relationships with the difficult world surrounding him, tries to play by its rules, necessarily imposing his own.
Separately, I want to mention the brilliant acting work of Alexander Pal, known to all for his work in the films “All at once” and “Icebreaker”. His character in the film appears in only a few episodes, but this did not prevent Alexander from revealing in two or three details the image of a teacher, a shy romantic who loves dancing since childhood.
It is important to note that Alexander Yatsenko was initially considered for the role of school computer science teacher Stanislav Ilyich, played by Pal. But he was forced to give up his job in The Good Boy for the Monk and the Demon project. And from this replacement, the film only won, as almost all the characters of Alexander Pal fall into the soul. He's not playing. It does not have pompousness, looseness and pathosity. He's a regular guy, the same guy from the people.
As a result, we got a light film, by the way, which received the Grand Prix at the Kinotavr in Sochi and took third place at the Window to Europe film festival in Vyborg.
The film “Good Boy” is far from a masterpiece. He didn't claim it. But in the end it is good for all its “childishness”. It’s one of the few films I’ve enjoyed lately. There are moments you can laugh at from the heart. Something makes you think, remember and remember. In any case, the picture is recommended for viewing by the whole family or with the other half.
This review has to be written! If not me, then no one else! How can it be that such a disgusting film could have had such generosity of film critics on '? Movie Avatar & #39;, such a high rating of Movie Search and not a single negative review in a month! I saw this movie because I wanted to write a negative review. Although I watched it too loudly said, I rather periodically watched what was happening on the screen, so that God forbid to see the terrible game of Semyon Treskunov. But everything in order.
First, you should praise the picture, no matter how difficult it is.
First, the speed and speed of the plot, it is both plus and minus at the same time. While I was sitting in the cinema, I wanted to shout out 15 times: - ' What's the rush?' But the plus here is that not a single second of the film is wasted!
The pros don't end there. It is also fashionable to note the only good game in this film, which could only be performed by Mikhail Efremov and Konstantin Khabensky. And that's it! no one else is trying in this movie! And about some, I want to say that he plays, right for evil! I especially did not like Treskunov, after all, after the Ghost (in which he also showed himself not from the best side), he finally exhausted himself. Others, on the contrary, disappointed. So I was not pleased with Yeva Andreyevite at all. Since Svetlana Khodchenkova herself lost to her, I expected to see something much more. Also, the characters of the picture were not pleased. After all, they are absolutely boring, uninteresting, sluggish. The only one who was more interesting was Papa Kohli, he was even a little funny. Speaking of comedy, do you see it here? It is time to get used to the fact that in modern Russian films in the genre of comedy, there is no comedy, and even if it is only partially. In general, I love Russian comedies and even if they are not funny, there is always something interesting and funny about them. But not in this case.
Plot.
And the plot in this film is more stupid than ever! The whole story revolves around a shy 9th grade student Koli Smyrny, who rushes between the school principal’s daughter and an English teacher. At school, someone is making a fire, preparing for some holiday, and in general doing something, it was unclear what. In short, the plot of this ' creations ' nowhere worse. I've read books and watched movies about similar characters, much better than this one. Take for example ' How good it is to be quiet '
After all, everything in this film is some fake, fake, artificial, somehow does not believe in such a life of the 9th grader. It is too depressing, and sometimes too funny, maybe so many events and could happen with the 9th grader, but in fact these same events are not so much. They all started to happen and didn’t start, or didn’t end, or didn’t happen at all.
In general, we ended up with a product similar in composition with no less bad picture ' 14+ '. Come to viewing, all fans of Treskunov and Russian non-funny comedies.
Only for a good game of Konstantin Khabensky and Mikhail Efremov.
Today I watched the movie The Good Boy from 2016. I will immediately say that after watching the trailer, the film seemed quite interesting to me, but after watching the film itself, my opinion changed in the opposite direction.
First of all, I don’t understand why there’s a 12+ limit on this movie when there’s at least 18+, or better yet 21+. After all, this film, most likely, will be watched by those who may even be 12 years old, and they have absolutely nothing to watch there.
Secondly, the whole movie consists of continuous advertising, for example, Samsung products are present in the film as many as 21 times.
Thirdly, the plot of the film is absolutely stupid. The main character - ninth-grader Kolya Smirnov first falls in love with his English teacher, to whom he comes for additional classes, and she turns out to be drunk and offers him to drink alcohol, despite his age, and then watches depraved films with him. Then Kolya falls in love with the daughter of the headmaster, and checks her silicone breasts. In general, this film often sees a direct call to violate articles 134 and 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which is not good for showing anyone, especially children! But despite the simplicity and superficiality of the plot, I still have some questions after watching this film. For example, I never understood what several men approached the director and why he gave them the money.
I really didn’t like most of the characters. Koli’s father seemed to me to be an inadequate person. The computer science teacher is also a very dubious person. And the main character in general, in my opinion, is even worse than all of them combined. But to be honest, I liked only one character in this film - a friend of Koli Smyrny. He was the only normal and balanced person, and the actor also played his role well.
It’s also worth noting that all the actors, with the exception of some, were simply disgusting. I got the impression that they didn’t take professional actors, but just people from the street who are hearing for the first time about what a movie is and how to act in it.
In the end, I want to say that the film left me with a negative residue, which, unfortunately, is characteristic of almost all Russian films.
High schooler Kolya Smirnov (Semen Treskunov) grows up in an eccentric family. His father is Konstantin Khabensky, who sells food additives and prefers to sleep every two days. Mom and brother are hopelessly spoiled by the regime (day), and Colin's rebellious nature is alien to them. But the school of the hero is a sight: in physical education classes, sports games are held in parallel with modern dance, and the English teacher Alice Denisovna (Ieva Andreevei) is not just seductive, but smart and temperamental. Everything would be fine, but who set fire to the computer class for which the director (Mikhail Efremov) was so diligently raising money?
Oksana Karas shot her second full-length in the genre of everyday drama, where the comic is combined with the absurd, and sometimes even mystical. For school history - the original and, as it turned out, the right choice. In addition to the wit of the authors is distinguished by a rare sense of taste, and moralizing, on the contrary, there is no mention. However, not all storylines were equally successful: without the detective element, supernatural quirks and packages with money, “Good Boy” would be even better. Unless, of course, the outlandish events in the middle of the film are Kohli’s crazy dream. After all, Smirnov could not really repeat the exploits of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Stoppard’s play of the same name. Where did the money go?
In Kirill Serebrennikov’s Apprentice, the school was distinguished by the fact that it housed a giant Olympic swimming pool, necessary for showing girls in bikinis. The rest of the Serebrennikov school is a dense den, locked in an old German building. Karas’s school is almost perfect: teachers are intelligent, students are realistic, and instead of awkwardness (which often happens when adults struggle to portray children), they cause a sense of nostalgia. With the corporeality of the “Good Boy” everything is fine and without a swimming pool: the place of the bikini was taken by well-tailored dance costumes, but despite the rude religious scruples of “The Apprentice”, Karas makes her female heroes smart, plastic and attractive. What is happening on the screen is easily reproached for unrealistic, if only because of the passion of the characters for spontaneous dance numbers. But it's even more fun. And for the fun of this film, everything can be forgiven.
Karas and her cameraman Suzanne Musayeva, in addition, managed to capture Moscow inconceivably beautifully, so much so that Moscow does not catch the eye. The shooting took place in the north-west, in Tushin and in Fili: the footage with the Moscow River is divine, the suburban squares in spring-summer colors look fresh and original, as if the familiar city opened in a new light. In Moscow, it is easy to imagine a perfect school where children dance, teachers fall in love, and parents know exactly when to come to the rescue. It is a crime not to believe this illusion, especially since the filmmakers are extremely honest. Happiness is changeable, you can not hide from disappointments: but there is no need, it is even more interesting.
Few good, kind and interesting comedies in our time. Be sure in modern comedies there is black humor and vulgarity from which you want to puke. The only ones who keep the bar are 'Quartet I' but they don't always make good comedies either. There are about two or three more comedies that are pleasant to watch and review, but not one modern comedy falls short of the golden fund of Soviet comedies. Yes, to be honest, the Good Boy is a long way off, but not enough to say there's a gulf between them.
Oksana Karas turned out to be a really good family and comedy film, which you will want to review more than once. The film “Good Boy” easily supersedes all comedies such as Christmas tree and everything related to Bekmambetov, Svetlakov and Comedy Club. The film by Oksana Kars will be pleasant for both young people and the older generation, since it actually transferred the atmosphere of the Soviet Union to our time. And it has not only similarity with the Soviet masterpiece Courier, but also references to it, if you watched the Courier, you will understand what I am talking about.
The film tells about a boy whose name is Kolya Smirnov. And he's the school version of Ivan Miroshnikov from the Courier. He's easy to communicate. Nicholas has no forbidden in that there is no moral line, i.e. it is possible to have, but far away, that it is easier to forget about its existence. But he believes in love and believes that people should live with those they love. Kohli has two girls in the film that he cares about, but both are older than him. One of them has a father (Mikhail Efremov), who is an analogue of Katya’s father (Oleg Basilashvili), but more favorably related to the main character. And Smirnov senior (Konstantin Khabensky) is the male version of Ivan’s mother (Inna Churikova). And, if you draw a small line, the Good Boy is a very good adaptation of the Courier or a parasitic version of the Soviet film, but from a positive point of view.
A small analysis of the actors will begin with the real star of this film, and we will not talk about Khabensky or Efremov (about them later), but about Semyon Treskunov. The boy grows not by day, but by hour. With each film, more and more confidently plays its heroes. Treskunov at his age was not a white crow in a flock of real professionals of his craft. And I have only one wish to Semyon Treskunov, it is not to sell, and later merge in serial slag series. As for Konstantin Khabensky and Mikhail Efremov, they once again proved their skill and ability to reincarnate, which is primarily related to Khabensky. And I can safely say that these roles are far from their best, but they played well. And a few words about Anastasia Bogatyrev and Yev Andreevai. In the film, Ieva Andreyevite played much brighter and outplayed her main rival in the film Anastasia Bogatyreva, who, unable to withstand the competition, went into the shadows. But Alexander Pal in this film I did not particularly like. Perhaps it has to do with the role itself, which is not pleasant for me. It seems that he joined his hero, but, due to the image of the hero, there is some rejection.
Oksana Karas’ film The Good Boy is the first successful comedy film since the Quartet’s take on Radio Day and What Men Talk About. And in the end, the film gives hope that gradually in Russian cinema will appear worthy comedies that will keep their heads, not lower when compared with Soviet masterpieces. Naturally, what we have at the moment, and this is no more than half a dozen quality comedies, is far from being compared with the best in terms of comedy cinema. But I am glad that there are attempts to catch up and return the destroyed. Without trying, there will be no breakthrough.
Our children will grow up and understand, or Cinema for an adequate generation of youth.
It is no secret that not so many comedies come out not only with sparkling or at least tolerable humor, but also with a serious melodramatic component. The same “Ghost”, released in 2015, was also a comedy and light drama at the same time – and when I came from that session, I thought that next year there will be something similar, which will focus not on high-tech delights, flavored with a barely noticeable leitmotif of family relations to the detriment of the latter, namely the relationship of children and parents not at preschool, but at a more adult level. We have everything we need for the next film in this vein. There are good directors, there are sane screenwriters, and Semyon Treskunov is perfectly suited to the role of outwardly clumsy, but at heart cute and romantic teenagers with reasonable views on life. Such characters are not just remembered by the viewer, but they are sincerely loved and respected by viewers all over the world - which, accordingly, does not detract from the merits of films with them in the lead roles.
Oksana Karas made not just a good film, where each of the characters is positive, but above all a film in which the concept of honesty and sincerity is far from the last place. The trailer initially anticipated a small confusion in the narrative, despite a fairly good acting ensemble with famous names. But since I love almost all of our cinema from Soviet to modern, this tape simply could not pass by me, and the annotation for the film prepared for the next portion of the problems of relations between fathers, mothers and their children - although this is not new in cinematic cuisine, but it is still relevant and conceptual for connoisseurs of family life. Everyday relationships within an ordinary average family are often very difficult to show in full down to the smallest details – because it is so multifaceted that even a love triangle now will not surprise anyone. There is also a quadrangle, and sometimes even a polygon, in which everyone is afraid of being deceived and thrown by a dull angle. And all this in the world called "Life" as if plain text speaks of the unpredictability of the latter among a series of obstacles, all sorts of passions and temptations. The main character of the film - schoolboy Kolya Smirnov - even in his very young years, appears before us not just a typical teenager who teaches lessons at home and walks on Saturdays and Sundays with friends. First of all, his character appears to be the generation of young people, for whom life is much larger and wider than it seems on the ordinary surface of everyday life. For them, love is not just a word, and family is not just a number of four people. Even phrases from his dialogues, written by the writers, should be brought as wise quotes. Some of them are successfully paraphrased and used as statuses on social networks, but they are also not devoid of meaning. After all, if you choose between women, one of whom has a child, then you face a very difficult dilemma. And the choice should be appropriate to your behavior - if you are an exemplary family man in your heart and able to sincerely love, then you will choose the one you love. If you don’t, you’ll live in two families and be afraid to make your choice. It’s nice to know that in the film, even the most positive characters eventually find themselves – and this is a definite plus. The way the hero of Mikhail Efremov literally learns from his mistakes and makes the way from a womanizer to a loving and caring husband is a kind of anthem and leitmotif of decency, rejecting a double life and showing a man with a capital letter, and not a pathetic parody of his natural nature. Still, the younger generation is somewhere even wiser than the older generation and can even give him a head start and valuable male advice. We are all afraid to grow up, make a mistake, take the first step, say “I love you!” – but there comes a time when you need to become adults, make your first mistake in life, confess love to a dear person and, finally, feel yourself an independent and full member of society.
Of course, there is humor in the film, but there is very little of it and the picture was most similar to the social drama of a narrower, family direction. Although there is a place to laugh or just smile at certain moments - and otherwise absolutely unsophisticated in anything, the viewer will have to learn not only the ultimate morality, but also, perhaps, recognize himself in the heroes of the film. In addition, the very atmosphere and entourage of the picture in places resembled the 80s - colors, scenery, houses, porches, etc., including a black retro car of a physical education teacher - so the feeling of a not quite modern era was very well felt and pleasantly surprised. If I am not mistaken, this is almost the first modern and at the same time “playing on temporal contrasts” comedy. The ending, of course, is in the style of a typical Indian movie - well, why not dance? After all, there is something to rejoice: all the characters of the film found their happiness, but someone changed himself and his lifestyle.
Summing up all the above, I will say that the film very clearly and specifically demonstrates the whole real life, which is full of all sorts of events and surprises. There is even a little romance, but it is the most sincere and without unnecessary high-flown words and unnecessary pathos. And, oddly enough, about the stupidities that each of us committed in adolescence on the basis of youthful maximalism and puberty, and which passed over time after reaching adulthood and adequate age.
9 out of 10
“Good boy” Oksana Karas this year won the Grand Prix of the XXVII Open Russian film festival “Kinotavr”. In his career is not a young writer – this is the first award, which is absolutely deserved (from part). “The Good Boy” made a good film about a shy ninth grader who is tossed between the choice of two girls. The question is, what's wrong with that? Basically, nothing. Just one of the girls is his English teacher, and the other is a “golden” lady who drew attention to him because of the “bad” act that she thinks he did.
Koli Smirnov's family are the people we need to look for. In the sense that one member of the family will be “better” than another. For example, Kohli’s father, Alexander Smirnov (Konstantin Khabensky), believes that his family should sleep according to the 12/36 system. That is, 12 happy hours you sleep, and the other thirty-six are awake. Dima Smirnov, Kohli's brother (Andrey Karasevich), for example, becomes schizophrenic after setting fire to a school. It's all the fault of the overburdened responsibility on himself. Dima believes that he set fire to the school, as he did not put out his cigarette after smoking and left. Well, Koli's mother, Irina Smirnova (Irina Denisova) is always dissatisfied with everyone. It feels as if it was introduced into the picture only for a number, they say, since the family is full, then everyone should be. But it would be better for everyone if her absence was played in some beautiful way, since Denisova’s character does not carry any meaning and is not even remembered. If Kohli's father is remembered for his stupidity, then his mother is absolutely zero character.
Kolya himself turned out to be “in the family”. A little strange, shy and driven in himself schoolboy who does not give English. Thanks to this, a young student and his young teacher almost have sexual intercourse. In general, if you evaluate the game of Semyon Treskunov, it is no different from his previous works. Still the same little boy who doesn't understand anything and tries to play in public. But it doesn't work. Semen tries to play beautifully and gracefully, but he does not do this (as, in principle, all actors). All attempts lead to laughter, but not to what should come. Not far from that.
"Good Boy" does a good job in comedy movies. The film itself is not a complete comedy - it is rather something from a number of instructive. From time to time, the headmaster of the school, Vladimir Dronov, teaches Kolya and the younger generation of spectators good deeds. For example, do not do immoral acts; use what is, and so on. The study is not only drones, but also the film itself. Remember Brother Kohli and his unsweetened cigarette. The moral is, "Don't smoke." If you smoke, take the carcasses with you.” It’s another film where you learn something. How many are you going to get tired of counting?
Continuing to the beginning of the last paragraph "...myself in the comedy film". There is indeed much to laugh at in the picture, but such moments are catastrophically few. There are even fewer moments where you can really laugh rather than smile. Moreover, “The Good Boy”, in addition to comedy, tries himself in other genres of cinema, but in vain. Trying to set a serious and sad tone leads to mocking laughter, and the characters in a stupid state. However, if you choose one thing, then you should stop there. Apparently, Mrs. Karas does not know this.
The verdict. “The Good Boy” is not a masterpiece of Russian cinema, nor is it a failure. The film turned into a good-natured comedy, which you can enjoy with your family or soul mate. Unfortunately, which is already a tradition of domestic cinema, the picture of Oksana Karas sins with a children's script and a dull play of actors. But here you can at least admire the female gender, which is present in the film.
Yes, it's hard for you, son
Unfortunately, the quality of Russian films now leaves much to be desired. With few exceptions, something worthwhile can be done. But "Good Boy" is another hope that Russian cinema can live.
An ordinary boy Kolya Smirnov, who at first glance does not differ from the others, is the main character. In his life, the same teenage routine: school, lessons, a loyal friend of Speech, a strange father-scientist, a restless mother, hamstrings from his older brother and the backs of the head from bullies. But suddenly Kolya falls in love with her attractive young English teacher - Alisa Denisovna. Instead of additional materials for learning the language, Kolya receives something more, which instills feelings in him. But this is only the consequence of a few glasses of wine Alice Denisovna. The next day, it is not clear why the new computer classroom at the school is burning down, and the board wants to find out who did it. There is suspicion that the culprit is among his own. According to the law of the genre, it was not without the main thunderstorm of the district, a tough guy who keeps the whole school at bay. He meets the daughter of the director, who tries to stand out from the others and do as much as possible to harm her father. And she has her reasons. Unexpectedly for herself, she falls in love with the inconspicuous Kolya, taking the arson for the work of his hands. In just a week, the teenage life of a good boy is saturated with different events: Kolya becomes a friend for the school principal, begins to meet with Ksyusha, puts “on the right path” Alice Denesovna miraculously avoids punishment from Bagadasar and wins a tidy sum of money.
A highlight of the film is its truthfulness and honesty. "Good Boy" is a rare example of a film that reflects our life, or rather the life of a teenager. The director without hesitation talks about this difficult and important period, when questions appear in his head. How to understand that he/she likes me?, “How should the first date go?”, “What to do at that very moment?”, “How to live on if there are no mutual feelings?” The novice actor Semyon Treskunov copes with his role perfectly: he managed to create an image of a real guy who acts according to conscience, can stand up for his actions and words, sincerely experiences feelings and is not afraid to tell the truth. The main idea of the picture is that it teaches us to be honest, first of all, with ourselves. And then other people will not suffer either. Perhaps Kolya is not handsome or cool guy, does not drive a luxury car and wears a suit from Armani, but it is real. His greatest talent is to be honest, and to be naive. One cannot ignore Konstatin Khabensky, who played a bizarre father-scientist. Although there were few scenes with his participation, almost every one of them caused sincere laughter. But this emotion is the most difficult to evoke. And in general, the humor of this film is at a decent level. No vulgar or incomprehensible jokes. The female part of the cast also organically fit into the picture. Anastasia Bogatyreva managed to play a girl-coquette, with lush forms that organically complemented the image of the heroine, and from Ieva Andreevei turned out an attractive and charming teacher who is not as happy at heart as it may seem at first glance.
Another feature of the film was that the characters wear clothes clearly not corresponding to our time, but rather the eighties of the last century. It creates a sense of timelessness. Events are easy to imagine in another decade. After all, there are things that do not change over time: he is a teenager and in any adolescent, the problem of fathers and children remains relevant, and the truth is still in honor.
"The Good Boy" is a true film that shows a piece of the life of a teenager who sometimes understands and notices more than experienced adults. After watching such films, I want to believe that Russian cinema still has a bright future.
It’s been a long time since there were just good comedies about school and students. Where global problems do not arise, there will be no catastrophes, but where only a small but important period of life for each of us will be shown. There are not many Russian films on school themes. Here we can not say that the picture is masterpiece and is a special breakthrough, but it can not be praised for its courage.
This is the kind of movie that is interesting to go to, both with friends and family. I was pleased with the actors who fit well into their roles. Except for the main character's brother, who seemed superfluous to me. Too empty a character. The comedy component of the film is very good, there are no absolutely stupid jokes, no vulgarity, which is now saturated with most Russian comedies. The humor is good and a little naive.
Very pleased with the main character, who was well played. A lot of things in the movie were so good because of him. I think the boy will have an interesting future as an actor.
In general, the film pleased me very much and is not lost on the background of the others that are coming out in the near future. It's worth watching and relaxing.
“The Good Boy” is a youth funny movie about the difficult, rich life of schoolboy Koli Smirnov. Problems at school and beyond, conflicts with adults and with their peers - in general, the kid is not bored. Then Kolya falls in love with an English teacher, then the school is set on fire by unknown intruders, then the eccentric father of the hero introduces a new mode of the day in which it is impossible to sleep. And this is far from a complete list. However, Koli’s friends and acquaintances also have enough worries. Smirnov, being a “good boy”, will try: 1) to help his friends in finding solutions to problems; 2) to get out of his reworkings; 3) finally to understand himself.
On the one hand, “The Good Boy” approaches the problems of my generation with humor and irony (fathers and children’s conflicts, first love, fighting so-called “injustice”), on the other hand, presents them with understanding and respect. The film wins primarily because it sometimes tries to avoid cliches. Sometimes, “Good Boy” breaks the patterns. Of course, some plot moves are predictable, but even they are trying to present more or less original, with spicy and “mindless”.
In its atmosphere, “The Good Boy” is somewhat reminiscent of “Deniskin Stories” or “The Adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin”, with the only difference that the film by Oksana Karas tells about teenagers and partially sang themes of drugs and sex. The film is very “lamp”, cozy, and the characters in it turned out the same. Even characters that are conventionally considered negative, cause a lot of sympathy. And due to this, as well as due to some intricacies of the script, a very simple, but generally correct idea of the film is put forward.
This is a film about how the world is not divided into good and bad. Everyone is good at something... strange at something. Yeah, they are. And because of human oddities, problems are born that are not so easy to solve. And the hero of Semyon Treskunov will have to understand that you do not need to put people on the right path. First of all, you need to work on yourself and your problems, and the people around you somehow deal with themselves and with their oddities. Helping others is helpful, though. The main thing is to accept people as they are.
“The Good Boy” is worth watching for the reason that it is extremely rare to find such films in our cinema – hooligan, cheerful, original and at the same time intelligent.
Very rarely in the last decade want to promote film art to the masses. Today, this desire has arisen. “The Good Boy” is a charming comedy of growing up for teenagers and their parents who miss the quality and meaning of school, first and not very love, about “good” and “bad”. Live and surprisingly diverse film with hilarious Khabensky, forever with a demon in the rib Efremov, charismatic-heroic Semyon Treskunov. Only the greatly expanded old woman Dogilev pumped up. But it's nothing. After all, while watching, the feeling of pride for our long-suffering cinematography did not leave me and the entire almost full room. Imho: cinematavurs for no reason do not give away
Honestly, if it wasn’t for Khabensky in some completely insane way, I wouldn’t have gone to The Good Boy. It is very rare to find something worthy. So now I'm basically revisiting old comedies instead of being too upset after watching new ones. Here is the same Khabensky, for example, an excellent and almost standard for me comedy “Geographer Globes Prop”, I have already reviewed so much that I stopped counting.
I was inspired by two factors: the absence of any “Will” and “Kharlamov” in the list of actors and the presence of a cool and very talented Khabensky there. However, at the very beginning of the film, I realized that the comedy is not based on him alone - and not even on him and Efremov. “The Boy” is simply full of at least talented, if not brilliant, actors, each of whom fit in, as they say, correctly and to the place.
For example, I liked the friend of Bondarchuk’s “Ghost” Semyon Treskunov, who already then (five years ago, it seems) shone and eclipsed the unnatural and mannered Fedor, who made another film about himself-beloved, and now grew up and very well, albeit not without complaints, played a much larger, more complex and emotional role.
I liked Pal, who recently seems to be in danger of becoming one of those actors who “everywhere” – very unexpected talents are revealed in him, as it turned out when he was released from the usual “bad-amplois”.
And of the new faces, I really liked the school teacher Anastasia Bogatyreva who played. Apparently, this was her first appearance in a big movie, and it turned out, in my opinion, almost triumphant. So I hope to see it in other images - if only not in some nonsense, of course.
In general, in my opinion, all the elements of a good movie in the Boy are available: a great idea, great actors, a great script and funny, mostly not moldy jokes. I personally really liked it.
Leaving the room after a session of “Good Boy”, I felt a strange residue and for a long time gathered with thoughts, not knowing what exactly I wanted to say about the film. But I knew I wanted to talk about him, which is not a bad sign. I probably liked the movie. He is not without shoals, he at some point begins to tire so much that I began to yawn in the movies, it is inexcusable! 20 minutes of timekeeping could be safely cut, but then the rental would not be allowed. There was a lot of overtly unnecessary stuff: some characters introduced for nothing, actions happening for nobody, but the film is really funny and funny. There are such moments of low and physiological, let’s call it, level, but not all humor is built on this, absolutely not all, and this is pleasing. The film is not obsessive, jokes do not exist for themselves, do not come from nowhere, everything is very organic, everything is built and works one with another, everything is tied to each other. My emotions jumped a little: I was funny, then bored, then it is not clear why these shots are needed here at all, then again funny and again incomprehensible. But it's more positive. In each frame and dialogue, you can see that the film was made with love and diligence.
I really don’t want to call the movie “atmospheric,” it’s getting a little bit tattered and annoying in itself. Just while watching you feel immersed and involved, because of this, even many shoals are lowered to the creators. Since the trailer, I’ve had questions about the time and location, and unfortunately the film hasn’t answered many of them. It is a bit stressful, especially in the first minutes, when you did not have time to imbue yourself with history and have not yet begun to empathize with the characters, why everything looks like an attribute of past times: this is the style of clothes, and the apartment of the Smirnovs, and school auditoriums, and other places. I perfectly understood that this is such an idea, stylization and so on, made very qualitatively, but if you want to convey the spirit of the 80-90s, then put the story at this time, the plot will not suffer a bit.
For the first 30 minutes, I thought that all this was happening not in Moscow, but in some indefinite provincial city of our vast country. However, history would not be lost from this. And those first shots were superb: the beaches and forested areas breathtakingly conveyed the mood and were just well shot. But then there was a panoramic view of Moscow in all its glory, also shot perfectly, only completely unnecessary, because it was tied to the place. And the right characters again by the wave of a magic wand are at the right moment in the right place, typical such movie sins, Easter eggs and holes in the plot.
And since I started talking about the beauty of filming, I confess that I’m crazy about general perspectives and mass scenes. They were all shot very well, especially at the beginning; in the final shots it seemed to me that the extras, the film crew, and even myself, all of us were a little tired of the process. But in the beginning I saw their fuse, their enthusiasm, I saw living heroes, and the schoolchildren were really schoolchildren, charming in their sometimes absurdity and clumsiness, they lived and existed all the time that I looked at them, creating a great background or side background, "background" in the broad sense of the word. This is what Russian cinema lacks, we often have the main characters play wooden objects without feelings and emotions.
And then I got to the acting, the sweetest. I really like Khabensky, he's a really strong actor, and I didn't think I'd say that, but I liked that he wasn't very much in the movie. He only appeared when needed, brought confusion or clarity, and quietly retreated into his scientific-mad world. I am very sorry that there was so much Efremov in the film, sometimes absolutely unnecessary. And the film, in my opinion, is good primarily because of the lead actor Semyon Treskunov and his great performance. He is either one of the most talented young actors, or one in one Kolya Smirnov, living in this world created around him. The character is deep, interesting, desperately preaching what he believes in and striving to understand everything and help everyone, amazing for Russian cinema, but revealed. Yes, opened right in the forehead, yes, without some sometimes coquetry coquetry, but quite full and alive. And I even like that in the end he remains an understandable spectator, but not understood by the characters around him. But the happy ending and the final group dance (oh, it wasn't worth it) doesn't get in the way.
For me, the most important part of the movie is the character input, and I cling to that very much. If a character is introduced in some stupid way, for me he will be stupid, I will not understand him or feel him. And here it is all so simple and understandable, even charming. I don’t like screenshots, so for me this way of presenting the hero is successful: he just gives us the initial data, and the rest we understand from the plot, it’s great, and this is probably the main merit of Treskunov. And the drawing pictures accompanying this cute story, as if on top of the film, the reception is old and absolutely not always working, but here to the place. And you don't forget about him by the middle of the movie, which happens so often. We took the reception and brought it to the end, but did not overdo it – well done, I’m really happy in this regard.
I was afraid to be disappointed in The Good Boy. Honestly. I liked it from the trailer, and I went to the session with the hope and fear that this hope would not come true. There is a message in it, and some concrete thoughts are even voiced repeatedly, deeper, oddly enough, buried deeper, but also there. There are very beautiful shots. There are good characters. There are unnecessary moments and sometimes flat humor. Maybe the film was not at the highest level, maybe it could have been done better, maybe the budget was cut here, but, I repeat, it was made with love and diligence. Isn’t that the main thing in the movie?
8 out of 10
Not a masterpiece or a total failure. Just a strong middle peasant, which is not a pity to spend your blood. Funny and, strangely for comedy, a very clever film about the morality, principles and problems of growing up. And also with really talented, not just raspy actors.
And, of course, with its flaws. There aren’t a lot of ‘Good Boy’, so I’ll start with them. And the main thing among all I would call the lack of a slender plot. The whole film consists of a set of almost random and incoherent events that echo each other, but do not assemble into a whole. It is clear that this was the idea of the writers, but personally I did not like such a pitch.
Another point that disappointed - it's too pretentious and sweet ending with some indistinct likeness of Indian dances and inscriptions about the near future, without which it would be better. However, they did not spoil the impression.
I didn’t like the actress who played Kohli’s mother. Even from the general not quite realistic atmosphere, she stood out for her unnaturalness, which was especially noticeable against the background of the other actors who played very well. And maybe that's it.
I will attribute everything else to the merits of the film, including the actors already listed like Khabensky, Efremov, Pal and the young and pretty Bogatyreva, as well as an excellent staging of dances. As a result, I will say that “Good Boy” may not be among my favorite films along with the classics, but it is worth watching, definitely.
7 out of 10
It was called “The Good Boy,” though I doubted it for a long time. The trailer just didn't give any hope for anything worthwhile. Some kind of confusion, from which I could not understand what the movie was about. And the poster somehow did not have to visit the cinema.
But I remembered last year’s “Ghost” with the same Treskunov, which I liked. The guy, maybe for his age and looks good on the screen, but in this comedy there were actors and brighter.
For example, Efremov in the form of a school principal, a womanizer, a gambler and in general a person on a class retro wheelbarrow. For me, he became the main character of the film, because his character was revealed most fully, and in general, the director seemed the most ambiguous, multifaceted and interesting. And if in the beginning it seems more purely negative, then gradually opens up to the character with the most elaborate story.
Treskunov himself is rather an outside observer, through whom other characters of the comedy are shown. In principle, a fifteen-year-old boy copes with this task perfectly, and you can close your eyes on the rest of his twists on the screen. It's too early to talk about acting, I think.
A great image went to Khabensky. The most fun and absurd, and he played it for five. In general, this is the second after Efremov actor who pulls the film. She is an English teacher with a dramatic story.
And again, a good - no, great! - domestic film. This time it's a school comedy that's hard to even compare - in recent history 'The Good Boy' is exactly unique. It brings to mind long-forgotten definitions like lyrical comedy - not just funny, but also touching, deep, and surprisingly warm.
The main character of Kohl looks at the world with his eyes wide open. He can explain to the English teacher that it is time to switch to Chinese - here, even a self-teacher has acquired. He may tell the school diva, who suddenly descended to him, that alas, he is set for a more serious relationship. Or suddenly start psychoanalysis at recess, so that a crowd of enthusiastic listeners will gather around. At some point, he himself wonders: ' yes, I can do anything, in general everything' - and this is all the ninth graders of the planet.
Around Kohli - strange, exaggerated, accelerated script and immersed in a very conventional & #39; our time & #39; but at the same time real life. Comic but recognizable images pass before us – from a father obsessed with health (Konstantin Khabensky in comedy, which happens quite rarely), to a shy teacher supposedly from Soviet cinema (Alexander Pal, who is damn good in retro). And all of them have something to learn from Koli Smirnov.
Movies such as 'Good Boy' just don’t want to disassemble into components: here’s the screenwriter well done, but the director tried. Although the director is worth noting - Oksana Karas is amazing. Something her manner is similar to Nigina Sayfullayeva (after mentioning her, I learned that the script ' Good Boy' wrote Mikhail Mestetsky - husband Sayfullayeva), something - Oksana Bychkova, something - Anna Melikyan with her beautiful ' Star' and ' About love'. I definitely like this new generation of movies.
I often hear that they used to be able to shoot good, subtle comedies, and now they are continuous ' Camedi Club'. So, 'The Good Boy' is exactly the funny and subtle comedy we've all been waiting for.
A slightly confused, but very funny movie about a schoolboy whose life is more like a madhouse. Moreover, Kolya himself would very much like to bring her own order, but the surrounding madness is increasingly out of control. In the end, there are a lot of unresolved questions to this very life and a lot of new thoughts.
Surprisingly, “The Good Boy” is not a philosophical fable, but quite a youth comedy, albeit with a taste of morality. And hip-hop. Or what they call these dances, to be honest, I don’t know.
Everything else is in place, again if we talk about The Good Boy as a slightly exaggerated reflection of our lives. It's like we're here, but it's a little out of this world. And obsessed with a healthy lifestyle, but with his quirks, Kohli’s father, and the headmaster, who somehow got an expensive retro car, and a young and beautiful teacher, for some reason in love with this elderly director, and a bunch of different strange characters.
The cast, honestly, pleased. A little upset by the same Kolya, who in ' Ghost' beat and outplayed Bondarchuk, and here looks somehow inconspicuous against the background of his own peers. However, it is not difficult to play ourselves, so we will wait to put Treskunova's assessment - for sure he will soon appear somewhere else.
Comedy is great overall. Not sloppy, not boring, not banal and very, how would it be more correct to say - smart, or what. Life is the way it is (only with dancing).
A good, hilarious and lifelong comedy about rakes that are scattered along the road to adulthood. And walks along this road a good boy - ninth grader Kolya, falls in love, seeks the truth, helps people and each time fills with these rakes more and more cones.
And it seems to him that now he has already figured out the rules and is ready to join the game, but reality in response laughs and again puts another batch of tests. Not just him, though. In the film, as in life, everyone gets their piece of experience through a new bump on their forehead. But everything in order.
“The Good Boy” will be interesting for both young people and the older generation. The first may not fully understand the subtle non-obvious irony that is saturated throughout the film, but they will definitely appreciate the ease with which the director presents the not the simplest idea of a collision of the world of “right” with the real world. And although there is a complete madness on the screen, it seems to me that the authors of The Good Boy have never exaggerated what usually happens in life.
The older generation, perhaps, will see themselves in this young boy – they will remember how they walked in a very similar field with rakes and were surprised that everything around is not quite as they would like. And all the humor of this wonderful comedy for them will be more than understandable.
“The Good Boy” is a universal comedy for everyone. I especially liked how the authors dodged the stereotyped jokes and humor of the TNT channel level, creating both a non-stupid and very fervent comedy. Of course, under beer in a large company, it will not work, but for such a pastime and so full of different passing movies. Let this movie remain for everyone else.