Good Boys (Film Review)

2019 Universal Pictures
Directed by: Gene Stupnitsky; Written by: Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky
Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon, Lil Rel Howery, and Midori Francis
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 89 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10

Ever since There's Something About Mary and American Pie helped bring the gross-out sex comedy back in-vogue in the late 90's, there's been a bit of a marketing mad-libs push for which group the newest one will center around. Moms? Boom! Here's Bad Moms! Teachers? Boom! Here's Bad Teacher! Sixth graders? Boom! Here's Good Boys! Unfortunately, Bad Boys was already taken.
2019's Good Boys centers around three pre-pubescent sixth grade tykes with foul mouths and big dreams. Jacob Tremblay's Max wants to date Millie Davis' Brixlee. Keith L. Williams want to play Magic the Gathering, stop bullies, and somehow cope with his parents' impending divorce. Brady Noon's Thor believes he wants the other sixth graders to think he's cool, but really, he just wants to belt out songs in school musicals. These aren't exactly intersecting interests, and the trio are in denial that their friendship is based on anything other than proximity, their parents' pre-existing friendships, and a previous lack of options. However, as a particularly crazy day's events put the three to the test, they'll find out whether the bond of their friendship is as strong as a child protection lock, or as weak as a drone facing an oncoming 18-wheeler.
Onscreen cursing kids are nothing new--The Bad News Bears came out over 40 years ago, and South Park has been on the air for nearly 25. The swearing is funny for Good Boys' first few minutes, but that particular element loses its charm fairly quickly--the desensitization factor is high. The film's biggest issue, though, is tonal consistency. Good Boy's best laughs center around the children's innocence in the face of the darker things happening around them. When these moments are juxtaposed with the kids suddenly launching into years-at-sea-honed tirades of profanity, the film loses all sense of cohesion. Strangely enough, realism is Good Boys' best asset.
The truth is: sixth grade boys do curse! Badly! They're terrible at it! When the film treats the trio like actual 12-year-olds, Good Boys works so well! However, there are slips where the film can't help but put older kids' or adults' words in the trio's mouths--totally ruining the film's suspension of disbelief. This is a shame, as Good Boys not only offers some huge laughs and fun performances from its three leads, but some very heartfelt and true-to-life moments. Few films look at the ways humans outgrow friendships as realistically and as honest as does Good Boys. If the film was just a bit more consistent in its tone and portrayals, instead of sometimes just going for the basest possible laughter, it could have found itself in the upper echelon of crass comedies. As it is, rather aptly, Good Boys is just a bit too juvenile for its own good.