Boychoir

Looking at the description of François Girard's latest film Boychoir, one would assume that it's taking some inspiration from last years indie flick Whiplash and a bit of Dead Poets Society, with perhaps some more influence from Boyhood for the title. Even one of the teaser posters is reminiscent of the Billy Elliot poster! But it would be cynical of me to just assume that Boychoir is attempting to be Oscars bait. 

Stet (Garrett Wareing) is a troubled youth who loses his mother at an early age. His father has started another relationship but hasn't let his new family know that he has a son left from his previous wife. He sends Stet to a boarding school, which so happens to be an elite music academy. Stets talent as a singer accelerates him up the ranks, allowing him to go on tours, with the strong-willed choirmaster Carvelle (Dustin Hoffman) encouraging him. However, Stet frequently finds himself alienated amongst his peers and has difficulty maintaining disciplined. This, combined with the secret his father is keeping from his new wife, proves  troubling for Stet.

As a fan of much of the talent behind Boychoir, including Dustin Hoffman obviously, it's sad that my overall reaction to the film was 'meh'. On the one hand it tries to be heart-warming with a positive message, but there's a fine line between inspirational and the stereotypical emotional pleas of Hollywood. Boychoir treads that line, and sadly, often crosses it. The troubled youth trying to fit in, striving to succeed, the role of teachers as role models etc are all themes that have been covered numerous times before, often more originally and successfully. Boychoir certainly manages to avoid many of the other cliches that follow along with this sort of film, but it fails to replace those elements with anything edgy. As such I soon lost interest in the story and only had the characters to pay attention to. Thankfully the characters, whilst far from revolutionary, are interesting enough for a light film, primarily due to the performances. 

Dustin Hoffman brings a sense of restrained emotion, as with many of his other roles, and doesn't overdo the tough-love side of Carvelle. I love Eddie Izzard as both a comedian and an actor, so it's great to see him in another dramatic role, and generally the cast is strong enough to bolster the slightly lacking story. Kathy Bates, Debra Winger and Garrett Wareing as Stet, are all very good.

Boychoir is fairly unoriginal, and lacks a drive in quite a few crucial areas. Having said that, it's still a decent light movie for a lazy Sunday afternoon, if you don't go in expecting a revelation in cinema.