BoyTown

I'm not going to say anything much about plot and content - You should see it and I don't want to spoil a minute of it for you.

It's not often you see a movie you can't fault, but "Boytown" is one of them. Great premise, top writing and directing, well acted with the perfect comedy timing you'd expect from this group of Australian (OK, and British ex-pat) veterans. The songs for women of "their generation" had my wife and I rolling in the aisles.

It's a masterpiece of stereotype satire, and an interesting comment on what happens to rockers when they're closer to the rocking chair than the rocking cradle.

The ending was a surprise (although I had been warned by my son), but somehow it seemed like the best way to end and it neatly eliminated any prospect of the pathetic sequel so many American films seem to spawn. Go and see it, and don't listen to the negative reviews - they must have been watching some other movie of the same name.

This movie is probably too subtle for its own good. Firstly it satirises boy-band/pop music, which is a fairly easy target, but it also satirises the very genre of 'getting the band back together' type films. Because it plays the cliches it satirises completely straight, at times it appears exactly like the bad movies it parodies. The performances are generally good and, given so earnestly in the face of deliberately cringeworthy dialogue and songs, are a subtle highlight. The predictable and extremely fantastic course the film takes sat somewhere between brilliant satire and mediocre plot development. Still, an enjoyable film with a little more going on than first appears.

I've got mixed feelings about this film. Like many other reviewers, I had high expectations, especially after seeing the brilliant clip for "I Cry" and listening to the Boytown podcasts. The cast of this movie are extremely funny guys, but the story and scripting left a lot to be desired.

Good points:

Amazing cast, top Australian comics

I loved the songs and I just can't stop singing them! I just may buy the CD...

Excellent dancing (and even funnier watching rehearsals behind-the-scenes on the DVD)

Some great laughs sprinkled throughout

Bad points:

Amazing cast wasted (Bob Franklin especially, massively under-utilised)

The ridiculousness of the song lyrics (especially after changing to cater for mature-aged audience) clashed with the comparatively straight storyline

Story jumped from scene to scene with the bare minimum of character and story development, like a sketch show with joiners

The documentary within a film was completely unnecessary

Attempts at a serious sub-plot towards the end fell flat

The ending totally destroyed many of my (up until then) good impressions of the movie. One of the worst I've ever seen (I would have bought the DVD for the songs alone if it weren't for the catastrophe of an ending ruining it all)

Fun movie with great lines. My boyfriend and I quite enjoyed it. It was really all one joke, but they didn't flog the horse too much.

Nice, light, fluffy stuff. Loved the songs and the fashion. Don't know what movie other people who've commented were watching. Did they expect Shakespeare? It probably could have been a neater plot/script, but we knew what kinda humour we were gonna get when we walked in the door. Maybe it was too subtle for some.

I thought the dry humour people were dropping on the sly was great. Australian comedies do have a particular style about them. Go Aussie cinema!

Back in the late eighties, before New Kids on the Block graced our ears, there was the boy band that started it all; BoyTown. Their stardom didn't last long, but paved way for every other boy band that follow. Since then, each member; Benny G, Tommy Boy, Bobby Mac, Carl and Corey split ways, with many stuck in ruts and jobs they loath. Benny G though has been stuck in the past, constantly thinking of his fame he once had. To relive these days, Benny wants to regroup the band to reclaim their title of the best boy band.

Australia has been expanding it's range of films being produced the past few years. Hard hitting dramas and stepping into the horror/thriller genre, yet a corner stone of the Australian film industry has been the under dog tale; the little guy taking on the big man. The Castle is a great example of this, but this constant retelling grew very thin. While time has past since a good under dog tale, does BoyTown turn the tide; no.

Mick Molloy struck a vein of freshness with Crackerjack; an under dog tale itself, yet mixed great comedy while nicely taking a stab at lawn bowls. Molloy slipped slightly with Bad Eggs, but slips even further here. That freshness he brought too Crackerjack has gone stale. Molloy, and his brother Richard, bring nothing new to the proceedings for a formulaic film; much too how they say boy bands are tired and repetitive.

BoyTown taps into the sexual innuendo created in mock-doc This is Spinal Tap. Dancing around singing about women's "Special time of the month" and "Pussywhipped" lack the laughs it aims. Spinal Tap had a knowing naivety, pelting out "Big Bottom", but McKean and Guest brought an innocence of 'we're just making music'. BoyTown miss the mirth and zeal, with songs that sound so meticulously made, just for a cheap laugh; manufactured to the last note.

The Molloy brothers don't delve deep into to bring some true great satire. The material was all there, boy bands are such easy targets, ripping out song after song of lost love and crooning over some woman, but drop the ball early on. Wayne Hope's play on the 'gay is he straight' member is boring for the get go, he should have injected more play and taken a cue from Bruce James's steward in Snakes on a Plane.

There is heart and a sweetness to BoyTown, but with every sentimental moment wrung to its extreme and nothing new brought, BoyTown will fade away like so many boy bands.