REVIEW: Boy A (A-)

You probably remember ten years ago in Jonesboro, AR, when a pair of adolescent friends set off the fire alarm at their middle school, took positions at the edge of the school grounds, and opened fire on their classmates and teachers as they filed out of the building, wounding eight and killing five. The boys, then aged 11 and 13 years old, were caught, convicted, and sentenced to time in juvenile prison. Both were released upon turning 21, and as of today they are back in society, their exact whereabouts and assumed identities unknown.

Is this fair? Has justice been served?

Boy A, which premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, is the work of the Irish filmmaking team of director John Crowley and screenwriter Mark O'Rowe (they previously collaborated on 2003's Intermission), who have together adapted Jonathan Trigell's novel of the same name into a poignant, probing parable that exists as much in real life as it does on celluloid. It's competing with Elegy as the most depressing movie of the year (or of the last few years, for that matter), but I suppose you could find bright spots in the strength of the production itself, which from the directing to the acting is outstanding across the board.

As with other just-less-than-perfect films, however, Boy A occasionally stumbles as it tries to navigate what is, on the surface, as simple a story as the Jonesboro massacre. Eric Wilson (Andrew Garfield) is being released from a London prison; we have no idea what he did, when he did it, or why. His uncle, Terry (Peter Mullan), is his guardian in the absence of Eric's parents, and he's arranged for Eric a job and a room in a friend's flat. They agree on a new identity, and Eric, known in his court proceedings as "Boy A", decides to become "Jack Burridge". For the time being, all we know is that Jack did not act alone, at least one person died in an incident, and the crime was heinous enough so that Jack initially requires police protection upon his release. He keeps a low profile and attempts to start his life over again, much like the Jonesboro shooters must have just recently done.

But it's not so simple, and as Jack spreads his wings, so does Boy A - slowly, gradually, and eventually almost to its own detriment. The use of flashbacks to explain Jack's trouble past is effective and engaging until it finally crosses the line into something unnecessarily horrifying. The relationship Jack has with a girl at his job, Michelle (Katie Lyons), is touching and true until it eventually becomes maudlin and melodramatic. And the coincidences and contrivances are clever until they become exaggeratedly convenient. None of these mistakes threaten to outright ruin the movie, but combined, they exist like those annoying stains on your favorite shirt that prevent you from fully enjoying your time inside it.

The more you wear the shirt, though, the more comfortable it comes, and Boy A is a near perfect fit at times, thanks largely to the amount of time we spend getting to know Jack. Even when we realize that his crime was the participation in a murder of one of his classmates, we somehow feel sympathy for Jack, and even when we see his violent instincts temporarily surface, we somehow feel sympathy for Jack. We know he's had a hard life and we want to him to succeed this time around.

Ironically, however, we have no idea why we feel this way, and this is subtle truth that didn't bother me personally, but is still another potential weakness of the film. After all, what evidence do we have that "rehabilitation" occurred other than the charming attitude of this young man walking out of prison? It's the million dollar question that has no answer. Not in the movie, and not in real life. I have to admit I kind of wish it had been more directly addressed in Boy A, especially because at one point, which I've now seen is given away in the trailer, the story turns into Jack's "good deed" creating major problems for him. I guess this was just a way to drive the story to a logical conclusion instead of making any grand statements about his particular situation, so in at least that sense I'm comfortable resting my grievance about it.

Considering my gushing praise for Casey Affleck's world-stopping performance in last year's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, you'll know that when I say Andrew Garfield's work here left me almost as floored it means he was something truly special. Knowing him only as the sarcastic Stanford student in last year's Lion for Lambs, I was enormously impressed with his British accent, enough so that I initially doubted it could possibly be the same actor. Well, it turns out Garfield was born in L.A. and raised in England, so there you go. I imagine award eligibility is unfortunately out of the question because of release dates or something silly like the fact that Boy A played on British television last year (for which Garfield actually won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor), but for a role that required nearly every minute of screen time, he was as good as anyone I've seen this year. Yes, he was fortunate to play opposite a capable cast of co-stars, but it's his picture above anyone else and in numerous scenes (one of my favorites being the entire sequence at the nightclub), he delivers the kind of career-defining performance that should get him in line for some major roles in the near future.

Of course, I said the same thing about Shia LaBeouf (one spelling attempt there, thank you) after A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and he's apparently chosen to go the route of action star for the foreseeable future. Hopefully Garfield will latch onto something of significance after his supporting role in next year's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (also known as Heath Ledger's final film).

If not for two key scenes in the last 20 minutes, one of which was the ending, Boy A might have risen to the top of the list of non-documentary films I've seen this year. The movie should have abruptly ended after a particular scene when Jack is walking down an alley, because more ending up being less with an almost ruinous attempt to tie some loose ends together at the end. Nevertheless, this is a movie that needs to be seen, both for the performance by Andrew Garfield and for our collective understanding of this true-to-life story. Jonesboro, as we all know, was not an isolated incident, and there could potentially be several individuals we interact with in our lives who were once known as a letter of the alphabet. Can any insights be gained by seeing their side of the story in Boy A? That's for you to determine. Come back and let us know after you see it.

Grade:
Writing - 9
Acting - 10
Production - 8
Emotional Impact - 9
Music - 5
Social Significance - 5

Total: 46/50= 92% = A-