BoyTown

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)

I've been a huge fan of Mick Molloy ever since the old Late Show days. I listen to his radio show each day, and I even have a signed copy of The Brown Album. Crackerjack and Bad Eggs were both very funny movies, and so I've been looking forward to this one for a long time. Maybe that's why I was so disappointed? It's a real shame when you get so much comedic talent in a movie, both in front and behind the scenes, and yet the result really isn't all that funny. It sort of sits at a slight giggle level for the whole time, and only rarely gets any better than that. The highlight is the songs, which are all pretty well done. It's obvious that the songs were what they spent all their time writing, and then just fitted the movie in around them. The story is so basic, it all just happens with nothing really happening, and I know that makes no sense but it's just the way it is. It's like, lets get the band back together, OK the bands back together, now we'll make some records, OK we're done. And the ending? Well, it's kinda funny, and kinda weird. It makes sense, but it's sort of in a we-don't-know-how-to-end-it kinda way. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to watch it? Who knows. It's far from terrible, but far from good. Which means it's solidly average. There is far worse than this around, especially when you compare it to other recent Australian comedies, but the Molloy boys, and everyone else involved, can do a lot better than this.

Caught this movie in Hobart's premier theatre- Eastlands, The Bogan Capital of the world.

After taking three minutes to eat popcorn, we proceeded to watch the 88 minutes (apparently) of Mick molloys brainchild, Boytown.

Being a reasonable fan of molloy and a cream-your-jeans fan of Wayne hope, me and my super best friends were looking forward to a quiet stroll along the generic, choreographed, lip-synced lane of boy-bands. A lane filled with a mix of treacherous storyline ravines, puddles of genius and a lot of bumpy plot twists in the road.

The idea is great. Boyband. Sure, its been done to death, but taking a fresh angle of mature boy-bands is quite a hilarious concept. The beginning of the movie dragged a lot and could have been saved with some witty dialogue, however most of the jokes were fairly predictable and lacked actually being funny. There were some good ideas, but were very poorly executed.

As the movie went on, it started to get better. Lachy Hulme was very good as the record company owner, unlike Glenn Robbins at least his character had dimension. Glenn definitely didn't suit this role, as an audience member, it was difficult to get emotionally attached to him. He is way better acting as a character. (Kath & Kim, Uncle Arthur, Russel Coight, Donkey Kong)

There were some very funny moments within around the middle of the movie. The Rio de Janeiro sexy cabaret singer part was easily the funniest part in the movie. Great cameo from Akmal. The songs sung throughout were well done. The crying song was easily the best sounding song, I'd purchase that faster than a fox on crack. The funniest song was definitely about that "special" time of the month. Very clever indeed. I don't know if Molloy wrote all those, if so, kudos.

The end, well I won't ruin it...

Yes I will.

Everyone becomes possessed by ghosts of robots from the future.

Seem ridiculous? It actually would have been a better ending than in the movie. I love those type of endings in the movie, but this one was done poorly. Gary Eck did absolutely nothing for me in the film, and was responsible for some of the worst lines in the movie. Rod Laver scene with Gary = Worst line I have ever heard in a movie, ever.

This is the best one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdK-aLGxV0Y

Anyways, all in all a fairly average type of comedy. The songs are great, the dialogue not so, story lines are very weak, needed more Wayne hope and tony martin. Bob Franklin could have had a bigger role too, not sure what happened to his little story in the middle either.

But, if you are a fan of molloys, you will like it. In the meantime if you want some awesome Australian comedy, anything by Shaun Micallef will whip this movie like a jockey on a horses ass.

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.

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.