The History Boys
October. 02,2006 RThe story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.
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Reviews
Surprisingly incoherent and boring
Did you people see the same film I saw?
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
We find many British films to be layered and realistic with humor woven in. This does not disappoint! The boys are fun and trying to find their way into Cambridge. They are accepting of each other without bullying which is refreshing. Most of the boys went on to act in blockbusters like Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Harry Potter series...fun to see them so young here. Just a nice way to spend a couple of hours enjoying a great movie from the U.K.
This movie must be a fantasy of some idiotic child sex abuser! Because the kids( underage 16/17yrs) in this movie want to get molested! It's what every sex abuser says, "The kid was asking for it!" "He/she enjoyed it as much as I did!" Bl***y B***ds! What's sad is that it is termed a comedy!! Pathetic! In the end its's heights of insensitivity where there is a trade off between principal abusing a girl student and a teacher abusing boy students! All are happy and scott free, ready to abuse the next set of students! And the kids who grow up seem to have similar tendencies! Appalling and disgusting to see the rave reviews and even awards it has got! Also not to forget the appreciation the writer has got for this piece of insensitive crap!
From the onset of this film I knew that I was in for an hour and a half of average British film making. This film is not entirely terrible however the plot line seems to lack direction with no climax and little to no sections that really grab the attention of the viewer. The film starts off OK, and as the viewer it seems that the film could have some artistic merit. However from then on, as I have mentioned, the plot lacks direction and is very uninteresting. There are scenes where all that happens is the students quote philosophers and poets, which leads to know progression in the plot and/or no advancement of our understanding of what is going on. To be honest the film is just plain weird, the only resolution that we as the viewer seem to come to is that all of the boys are homosexual, and that the male teachers are also gay and are sexually attracted to their students. All this film does is leave me with the impression that schooling in the 1980's in Britain was filled with sexual interaction between staff and students.The acting in itself is very good and the cast of mediocre British actors delivers brilliantlly on the content which they have been given, but they themselves are let down on the content itself, this is the only reason why this film does not receive a lower rating.All in all this film is watchable, but really there are much better things you could do with your day.
It seems many reviews of this film accuse it of "glorifying paedophilia", featuring "random vaudeville tunes sung by half-naked students" and said students groped by a teacher they "worship". None of those are true. Nor is it true that this film is a "sick pervert's fantasy". This is a fine film, in which one of many broad themes (along with self-betterment; human history; morality; the importance of education; the importance of fun and the importance of acceptance) is reactions to a teacher groping students and how the victim's mind-set affects it. Many discussions by the characters in the film run parallels to this, and in one of the more explicit mentions of it, one student asks another; "Are we victims?", clearly dismissive of the idea. The film makes no move to excuse it, and it is not, as some suggest, only the 'villains' of the piece who are shocked. The teacher also hits his one of his students with a book at one point, not truly hurting him, and the student laughs it off. This is also arguably a parallel to said student's molestation. If you think this film "disgusting" or "sick" or even just "boring", please re-watch it, and try to understand it this time.