Good Boys follows three young middle-schoolers, Max, Thor, and Lucas - played by Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, and Keith L. Williams, respectively - collectively known as The Bean Bag Boys. One day Max gets invited by one of the popular kids at school to a kissing party being held at his house, and he manages to get Thor and Lucas invited as well. Realizing none of them know how to kiss, they set out to right that wrong, which leads to a madcap adventure involving drugs, alcohol, and all other things out of their age range.
It’s hard not to think of the 2007 teen comedy Superbad when seeing this film. A lot of the set up is essentially the same. Though while Superbad leans a lot heavier into its coming-of-age themes, Good Boys tends to strictly focus on the naivety of the three young leads as they get into one misadventure after the next. A lot of this film’s humor stems from the fact that the three are placed in some situation that’s clearly meant for adults and they try to figure out how to deal with it. They need to procure drugs for Max’s neighbor Hannah (Molly Gordon), sell a sex doll to an online buyer (Stephen Merchant), and attempt to steal alcohol from a convenience store, among many other things.
It’s a bit repetitive in terms of humor, but many of the jokes work surprisingly well, thanks to its extremely quick pace and the talents of the three young stars. Seeing Tremblay, known for much more serious work such as Room and Wonder, move into something much more freeing for him is a lot of fun, while Noon also works really well as the sarcastic, yet sensitive member of the bunch. Though Williams is the scene-stealer here, with his strict moral upholding of social standards, standing proudly behind the decisions he makes. For example, he has no qualms hiding behind a student’s coalition group when he feels he’s being bullied and will stand tall with them as they form a circle around him and draw attention from everyone else.
Williams is really the only fully fleshed out character of the main trio, with a backstory involving him dealing with the divorce of his parents - played by Lil Rel Howery and Retta - that is constantly revisited, adding a sweet touch to the film while still remaining funny. While the other two aren’t without a personality, there really isn’t a whole lot to them outside of what’s established at the beginning of the movie, with the movie just opting to place them in situations so they can be the butt of jokes. Even when the movie presents itself with moments where it can establish some solid character development, such as a moment in which Max has to face his dad (Will Forte) over causing some damage in their house, the film just resorts to a series of over-the-top, exaggerated screaming rather than feeling like Max really learned anything.
Thankfully the film doesn’t keep this schtick going through the very end, and at least does reveal that there’s a heartfelt message behind it, even if it felt like it could have been hinted at a bit earlier. The film does play up some of the coming-of-age themes that were seen in Superbad and other similar films, including staying true to who you are and what you enjoy. And what’s nice is the film doesn’t come off as preachy about it, or really lose any of the energy it’s been rolling with for all this time. When the film leans into its sweeter side - such as with the aforementioned divorce storyline - it still manages to get in some good laughs and puts a fun spin on these element, while still teaching a lesson.
Good Boys definitely sticks to a formula for most of the movie - that being little kids being placed in adult situations - but it knows how to take advantage of said formula and have as much fun with it as possible. While it suffers at times from not having as much character development as it should have, it makes up for it with plenty of rapid fire laughs that work well thanks to the talents of its three talented leads. It’s not exactly a classic like the many films that inspired it, but at the very least, it lives up to its name and is without a doubt a good time.
Recommendation: Watch It
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