Absolute treat of a film will be highly appreciated by
audiences that enjoy beautiful music and singing of an elusive scale. (Review by
David R Walker)
Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man, Midnight Cowboy) teams up with Oscar winner Kathy Bates (Misery) along with the rarely-seen
actress Debra Winger (Shadowlands, The
Sheltering Sky) in a heart-warming tale of an 11 year old boy Stet,
superbly played by Garrett Wareing.
After the death of his young mother and abandonment of his cold-hearted
father Gerard, played by Josh Lucas (A
Beautiful Mind, The Lincoln Lawyer)
Stet is sent to an exceptional Boychoir
school to study singing, an American version of the Drakensberg Boys Choir set
in Connecticut.
Hoffman plays the hard edged choir master Carvelle who
recognizes the shimmering talent in Stet and soon, after a series of missteps,
casts him as the solo lead in a Choir Concert by Handel that the travelling Boychoir is performing in New York City.
French Canadian director Francois Girard’s (Silk, The Red Violin) nuanced film Boychoir which premiered at the 36th
Durban International Film Festival (http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/) is an
absolute treat of a film and will be highly appreciated by audiences that enjoy
beautiful music and singing of an elusive scale.
Boychoir is a
scaled-down version of Dead Poets Society,
a brilliant portrait of one man, Carvelle who is desperate to catch the singing
talent that these boys have before they reach puberty and of a boy, Stet, who
struggles to survive in a hostile yet ultimately rewarding environment who
eventually wins back the affection of his estranged father.
Boychoir also
stars Eddie Izzard (Valkyrie, Ocean’s
Thirteen) and Kevin McHale from the hit TV series Glee and is a highly recommended film sure to warm any viewer’s
perceptions of a protagonist struggling against endless adversity. - David R.
Walker
(David R. Walker is a
freelance film journalist who has kindly agreed to share his reviews with
artSMart)
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