Worried About the Boy

Boy George's autobiography Take It Like A Man I think is the best I have read. It offers a unique insight into fame, money, drug addiction and a cynical pop industry. I know that this movie is not based on the book and that Boy George was involved in the script. This film is decent enough, but it fails to embrace Boy George's personality, charisma and unique and fresh image that conquered the entire pop world. This is too static and slow for me, and I can't quite get involved. I hope the next biopic about Boy George manages to highlight the essence of Boy George's abilities and talent that made him a major pop star and the honest and straightforward personality he always offers in interviews and performances.

Boy George can certainly be described as an 80's icon. I distinctly remember as a youngster first seeing his band Culture Club perform 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' on some kids TV show some time in the early 80's and then seeing him interviewed immediately afterwards and being utterly amazed he was not a she. I seem to recall fellow school-mates being somewhat flabbergasted about this the following day too. These were less enlightened times as far as homosexuality was concerned, so I guess Boy George was even more of a cultural happening taking that into account. Despite his image, part of the reason Culture Club became so massively popular was that George himself was never promoted as threatening sexually, while the band's music was very contemporary new wave pop with little edge. But like most things that connect so fully with mainstream culture, the fame and success only lasted a fairly short while.

This TV biopic is unusual in that it hardly focuses on the Culture Club years at all. Instead, it covers George's pre-fame and post-peak tabloid celebrity years. In doing this, it sort of misses out the most dramatic section of the story and looks at what led George there and how it affected him negatively afterwards. This approach means that you have to accept what the film is not, although it definitely makes the story more small-scale and lower key. The early years are typified by the fashion scene that revolved around the Blitz Club which was populated by the New Romantics; while the later scenes happen in the midst of George being hounded by the press over his reported heroin addiction. The film flashes forward and back to these two periods to tell the story. And in some respects it's quite a limited story in all honesty. The early years were typified, after all, by George not really doing a lot and gaining minor celebrity for merely wearing the right clothes. One of the more notable events happens when he briefly hooks up with Malcolm McLaren – very well played by Mark Gatiss – and is photographed with his then pop pets Bow Wow Wow but little came of this, so it's just a colourful detail.

Mainly the film works as a time capsule movie, where we are transported back to the early 80's. Several characters from the New Romantic scene appear, such as Steve Strange, Marilyn and Kirk Brandon; the latter of which had a sexual affair with the singer. The costuming and soundtrack have been chosen well and despite the low budget, it's convincingly of its time. The main acting duties are covered by newcomer Douglas Booth, who is decidedly more androgynous than the real Boy George. He puts in a pretty good performance, especially when you consider he was only 17 years old at the time. On the whole, this is a film that should appeal to those who like biopics about popular music figures. It might not be the most dramatic story but it is well told for what it is.

*Possible Spoilers* I watched this and it was AMAZING. Full of everything a television programme could need; angst, comedy, romance, honest truths...the list goes on! The acting is incredibly good, and always believable. Though it was all wonderful, my personal favourite parts were the cute and subtle bits of romance. In parts, it made me 'aww' audibly! Douglas Booth, who played George, looks an incredibly amount like him. A perfectly chosen actor, there in my opinion. And, as an added bonus, he's absolutely gorgeous! The only low part for me, was that the lip-syncing of the songs was rather bad. The mouths move to the right words, but it doesn't look like he's actually singing it. But this is merely a small thing, and hardly really detracts from how wonderful the whole thing was. I would highly recommend watching/buying this. A brilliant piece of drama! Douglas Booth is definitely a star in the making! Look out for him in the future!

Worried About The Boy (2010) -

This film had a cracking soundtrack/backing track and it wasn't even saturated with the songs of Culture Club, which in many ways was a shame, but in other ways it showed the music that had been part of Boy George's (Douglas Booth) life until that point.

Because of it's lower "Made For TV" budget it was far more gritty than the likes of 'Rocketman' (2019) and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (2018), with its concentration more on George and his origins specifically and less about the band or his rise through celebrity.

Personally I wanted to learn a lot more about the years in between 1981 and 1986 and the years that followed, so perhaps it's time for a follow up

I also felt that there should have been more sex and nudity, especially based on the rumours of George's sex life and because Douglas Booth is a handsome guy. I thought that he did a good job in the lead role.

This was also the first time I've seen Freddie Fox play someone other than Freddie Fox and he did it really well too in his role of Marilyn.

And it was interesting to see Richard Madden as yet another gay boyfriend type in the role of Kirk Brandon (Who in real life tried to sue George for his claims that they had a relationship and lost). Maybe Rich will play my husband one day?

I really enjoyed this tale, despite its limited time frame and I'm not joking about a sequel being due. The story of (Boy) George O'Dowd only got more interesting after the events depicted here, certainly as far as I can recall, and even if they were only filmed as a source of entertainment and not entirely factually correct, they would be a great curiosity for Culture Club fans and film buffs alike.

This instalment was acted well and I felt directed and edited with care too. Akin to 'Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!' (2006) and 'Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me' (2008), it was a warts and all piece about an icon.

836.71/1000.

Having only recently read 'Take It Like A Man', Boy George's compelling and brilliantly entertaining autobiography, I was excited by the prospect of this. I've never been a Culture Club or Boy George fan, but I love tales of rock 'n' roll excess and I was happy to find the book did exactly this.

This film, however, proved to be a bit of an anti-climax. Whilst everything appeared to be accurately depicted and the era authentically portrayed, the problem was that it stopped just as things were getting interesting. The book really came into its own once Boy George and Culture Club found fame but film stops dead at this point, with the exception of a few flash-forwards to 1986 when George was engulfed in controversy and smack addiction. I appreciate what went on before is relevant but what was shown in the film should have been condensed down, allowing the majority of it to focus on what happened thereafter. But I guess that ultimately wasn't the point.

I definitely think George's fame, popularity and infamously colourful life warrants a screen adaptation, but merely giving us an insight into what went on beforehand makes me think this was a missed opportunity.

On a slightly more positive note, to hear that the lead was only 17 is astounding and he did a terrific job in what must have been a very challenging role.