R-rated comedy tries to do too much, doesn’t stick the landing

“Good Boys” follows the story of three sixth grade boys, Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams) and Thor (Brady Noon) on their wild adventure to make it to a “kissing party.”

This story has plenty of crude humor and even some heartwarming scenes, but it lacked overall substance.

The Plot Summary (No spoilers)

The story sets up by showing us a personal dilemma for each of the three main characters. Max is attempting to get to know his crush, Thor is struggling with his identity and who he wants to be and Lucas is dealing with his parent’s divorce.

The trio, self-nicknamed the “Bean Bag Boys”, are seen in the cafeteria eating lunch when Max is invited to a party. He is quickly informed that there will be kissing involved at this party and that his crush, Brixlee (Millie Davis) will be there. He’s also able to convince the party hosts to invite the rest of the “Bean Bag Boys”.

Now the boys realize one big problem. They don’t know how to kiss. After a quick browse on the internet and a “not kid friendly” website visit, the crew decides to use a drone that belongs to Max’s father to spy on some high schoolers to learn how to kiss.

A pair of girls, Hannah (Molly Gordon) and Lily (Midori Francis), spot and catch the drone. The boys go to the house to retrieve it, and after the girls refuse, they steal a purse to use as bargain piece. However, the boys learn that their bargain piece contains drugs, molly.

The two groups begin a movie long chase that includes a run in with an off-duty cop, crossing a 12-lane highway and fighting in a fraternity.

The Review

As a comedy, this movie does a solid job… if you haven’t seen the trailer. The trailer is very misleading. The trailer portrays it as a movie pushing the boundaries by having three kids lead in an R-rated comedy. It does do this, yes, but almost every single dirty or raunchy joke that kids shouldn’t be saying can be seen in the trailer.

It made it very disappointing because I thought the trailer was a taste of what was to come. It was the full meal. The movie was still alright to sit to, but the best parts had already been seen.

It was also lacking in its story. I don’t expect comedies to have a story or overarcing scene. If they do, it’s a nice touch, but it’s unnecessary. This movie tries to get a story, but overall it doesn’t work. If you couldn’t tell from the plot summary, it’s a bit of a confusing mess.

However, through all of this, there was still some heartwarming moments at the end. It speaks towards neighborhood friends that many in the audience can relate to their own childhood.

Overall, I give this movie a 5/10.