About the film (courtesy of Universal Pictures):
After being invited to his first kissing party, 12-year-old Max (Room’s Jacob Tremblay) is panicking because he doesn’t know how to kiss. Eager for some pointers, Max and his best friends Thor (Brady Noon, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and Lucas (Keith L. Williams, Fox’s The Last Man On Earth) decide to use Max’s dad’s drone – which Max is forbidden to touch – to spy (they think) on a teenage couple making out next door.

But when things go ridiculously wrong, the drone is destroyed. Desperate to replace it before Max’s dad (Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth) gets home, the boys skip school and set off on an odyssey of epic bad decisions involving some accidentally stolen drugs, frat-house paintball, and running from both the cops and terrifying teenage girls (Life of the Party’s Molly Gordon and Ocean’s Eight’s Midori Francis).

First-time director Gene Stupnitsky has spent pretty much his entire career in the shallow end of the pool, aka television projects. At the beginning of his career, Stupnitsky did have a couple of solid writing gigs with Year One (2009) and Bad Teacher (2011). After spending quite of few years allowing his typed and written words speak for him, he looks to be ready to just in with both feet for Good Boys. Working with great comedic minds such as Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill as producers, should allow Stupnitsky to throw caution to the wind and go for it, especially since the aforementioned trio gravitates towards a no holds barred approach at humor.

Previous fans of films like Superbad (2007) and Sausage Party (2016) will find themselves in VERY familiar territory as Good Boys plays out. An R-rated raucous romp through school years is accentuated by its very young trio of co-stars (Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon), which only magnifies the many humorous moments experienced throughout. Now it would be one thing if these kids were in their teens, but we’re talking about sixth graders here. And the sort of genius part about this is that everyone can identify with the outrageous things going on. Whether it’s remember what your own middle school years were like or the anxiety (now increased x100 now that you’ve seen what this movie is all about) you feel as with your own children around this age, there are some situations that you’ll have to think twice about now.

Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon are the three actors that really drive Good Boys to be a worthwhile watch for 90 minutes. They’re performances are so believable that it’s like they’re not even acting. And that’s the beauty of a movie like this. Two other younger actors that turn in good performances are the boys’ sworn enemies played by Molly Gordon and Midori Francis, who offer a good change of pace in both maturity and gender. A couple of other actors that I’ll throw out there (clearly only because they have recognizable names) are Will Forte and Lil Rel Howery, neither of which will have you reminiscing fondly about their contributions to this comedy.

As far as late-Summer comedies go, this one is decent. There are lots of things to laugh at, especially if you’ve not seen either of the red band trailers. Honestly, and this is no surprise, some of the best moments are revealed in these trailers so stay away if want to get most laughs out of your experience. Good Boys is funny and it has some great quotable moments. It also teaches a few lessons and oddly enough, provides insight into some of the struggles kids go through. We made it through it and we often push those experiences out of our minds. This might send them rushing back to the forefront. The comedy starring kids about kids is definitely NOT for kids to watch. Check in out in theaters now.