| Product Details |
| THE HISTORY BOYS, a clever look at a British school system's attempts to produce Oxford and Cambridge-worthy graduates, is based on the play of the same title by Alan Bennett. Bennett's play provides an interesting springboard for a film about youth, growing up, education, identity, and the complexities of the student-teacher relationship. Set in Sheffield, England, in the early 1980s, the story follows a class of college-bound high-school boys as they prepare for the rigorous entrance exams. Feeling the boys need grooming beyond what the absurd Mr. Hector (Richard Griffiths) and sarcastic Mrs. Lintott (Frances De La Tour) can offer, the headmaster (Clive Merrison) brings in Mr. Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) to fill in the gaps. As a finishing school teacher of sorts, it becomes Irwin's job, through innovative history lessons and bold techniques, to turn children into men. But like his colleagues, Mr. Irwin is not without doubts and of his own, and his inevitable attraction to one of his students is so... |
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Key Information
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| Genre: |
Dramas |
| Directors: |
Nicholas Hytner |
| Actors: |
Adrian Scarborough · Clive Merrison · James Corden · Penelope Wilton · Russell Tovey |
| Stars: |
Frances De La Tour · Richard Griffiths · Stephen Campbell Moore |
| UPC: |
024543425199, 024543514893 |
| Running Time: |
1hr 52min |
| Available Formats: |
DVD, DVD: Canadian; Sensormatic; Widescreen |
| MPAA Rating: |
R (MPAA) |
| Subgenre: |
Sex |
| Release Date: |
2006 |
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Languages
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| Original Language: |
English |
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Credits
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| Screenwriter: |
Alan Bennett |
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Professional Reviews
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(03/01/2007, p.122, Richard Houldsworth): 4 stars out of 5 -- "THE HISTORY BOYS is an exhilarating experience; one that delivers the vivid pyrotechnics of language, and challenges the intellect...", (11/01/2006, p.103, Stephen Farber): "THE HISTORY BOYS preserves some of the best writing to grace the theater in many years....The movie is highly entertaining.", (11/01/2006, p.46, Tom Dawson): 3 stars out of 5 -- "THE HISTORY BOYS is at its most moving in the quieter, more reflective moments...", (11/21/2006, p.E7, Stephen Holden): "[F]erociously engaging....The acting is wonderful. Mr. Moore's avid Irwin and Mr. Griffiths shambling Hector are matched by the extraordinary Frances de la Tour as Dorothy Lintott...", (11/30/2006, p.124, Peter Travers): 3 stars out of 5 -- "Bennett's dialogue sparkles and skewers with killer wit. Dig in.", (12/01/2006, p.43, Glenn Kenny): 3 stars out of 5 -- "THE HISTORY BOYS is a pretty grand and juicy entertainment....There's no one today writing English dialogue as sharp as Bennett's..." , (12/01/2006, p.64, Lisa Schwarzbaum): "The movie adaptation has been lifted from the theater with original cast and director Nicholas Hytner intact; the actors interact as cozily as chums on a playing field..." -- Grade: B, (12/01/2006, p.79, Ray Greene): "[G]iven flesh and substance by veteran dramatist Alan Bennett's witty and muscular way with dialogue." |
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