A refreshingly gentle treatment of familiar themes such as the inevitability of change, the dashing of youthful illusions and mutability of family. Enhanced by an exotic locale, the movie overcomes a well-trodden narrative path and unflinchingly brandishes its sentimentality as it stakes out its crowd-pleasing territory.Read Full Review »
67
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Lisa Schwarzbaum
The filmmakers can't decide whether to trust the period innocence of the book (and play down their casting coup) or let the young man rip as a preteen-babe magnet... So December Boys splits the difference -- safely, dully.Read Full Review »
63
Boston Globe: Ty Burr
A problematic memory play, shot through with honey-colored nostalgia, that backs nervously into darker matters.Read Full Review »
63
Philadelphia Inquirer: Steven Rea
The movie would pour nicely onto a thick stack of pancakes.Read Full Review »
50
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Roger Ebert
There seem to be two movies going on here at the same time, and December Boys would have been better off going all the way with one of them.Read Full Review »
50
Washington Post: Desson Thomson
Radcliffe is good at showing vulnerability but without the skills to give it gradation. The magic doesn't work for him this time.Read Full Review »
40
The New York Times: Jeannette Catsoulis
A coming-of-age tale so treacly it doesn’t just tug your heartstrings, it attempts to glue them to your ribs.Read Full Review »
40
Village Voice: Ella Taylor
If Daniel Radcliffe is hoping for an acting life after Harry Potter, he might want to be choosier than this cloying little Australian number.Read Full Review »
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