Customer Reviews

Dream Boy [PAL]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I read the book I considered it one of the best I had ever read and I can say the same for the film. Beautifully photographed, great acting and one of the most faithful adaptations of a story to the screen since Brokeback Mountain. Strongly recommended!

"Dream Boy" is a film based closely on Jim Grimsley's 1995 book of the same name.

Passive high school sophomore Nathan (Stephan Bender) moves again with his protective mother Vivian (Diana Scarwid) and unstable father Harland (Thomas Jay Ryan), this time to the town of St. Francisville, Louisiana. Neighbor Roy (Maximillian Roeg), a regular guy high school senior, gets to drive their school bus to and from school, allowing the new neighbors to get a good look at each other.

After cutting a deal in which Roy trades his math tutoring skills for Nathan's skills at tutoring English, they swiftly discover they have much more to offer each other.

Out at the local swimming hole, Roy introduces Nathan to two buddies, assertive Burke (Randy Wayne) and easy-going Randy (Owen Beckman), who have been observing Roy getting closer over time to Nathan. Burke, who might have an unspoken interest in Roy himself, tests the waters by seeming to try to throw non-swimmer Nathan into the water. Roy rises to the challenge, and Burke backs off.

After some harrowing trouble at home, the abject Nathan joins Roy, Burke, and Randy on an multi-day camping trip through marshy Louisiana. Roy tells some scary stories. They pair up in tents. All seems to be going well.

Then the foursome come across the abandoned Kennicott plantation house. Is it haunted? Let's find out. Nathan seems to sense some things. The story then veers through heedlessness and violence to a supernatural but partly-happy ending where the relationship of Roy and dreamy, live-in-his-head Nathan is transformed. Different people will feel differently about the resolution, which is slightly different from the book's.

The story, acting, locations, and sets are generally good. Bender and Roeg both do well as the leads. The setting appears to be in the 1970's or 1980's, as there is no electronic gear around anywhere. One is reminded how lush and devoid of people the muddy Louisiana countryside can be. The ambient homophobia is nowhere explicitly expressed but is universally assumed. There are skin scenes for Roy, Nathan, and Burke, all of whom are lookers. There are several sex scenes, not all pretty.

The only extras are trailers to three other movies. The director (James Bolton) was quoted in a "Bay Area Reporter" review as saying the production was bedeviled by the homophobia of the current Louisiana locals. (The state government was helpful, though.) A commentary might have been educational.

It was curious that on my DVD feature play begins with a PG-13 rating announcement, whereas the cover said (correctly) the film is R-rated.

Both the book and movie forms of "Dream Boy" are recommendable.

Back in 1995 Jim Grimsley published DREAM BOY, the second novel of his continuing examination of the coming of age in the South and followed by the equally popular COMFORT AND JOY, BOULEVARD, FORGIVENESS, MY DROWNING etc. It took many years of for James Bolton ('Eban & Charley', 'The Graffiti Artist') to decide to adapt this story to the screen, and while Bolton elected to replace much of the lyricism of Grimsley's prose with extended periods of non-verbal communication in the screenplay, the story of two high school kids coming to grips with a mutual attraction in the dank repressive aura of the South manages to still come through intact.

Nathan (Stephen Bender) is a quiet, reclusive sophomore in high school who is settling in to yet another move by his alcoholic, Bible-pounding, abusive father (Thomas Jay Ryan) and his sympathetic mother (Diana Scarwid). Next door lives handsome jock Roy (Maximillian Roeg) who befriends Nathan, shares homework, and when he is not with his girlfriend, offers Nathan rides in the school bus he drives. Exchanges of glances and the growth of mutual attraction between the boys lead to a very private but sincere physical relationship: Nathan does not share with Roy that he has suffered sexual abuse from his father. Roy and his buddies - Burke (a very promising Randy Wayne) and Randy (Owen Beckman) - begin to join the boys on swimming gigs and finally a camping trip that includes visitation of an old deserted and possibly haunted plantation house. What happens in this mysterious place provides the climax of the story - a brutal surprise ending that then transports the film into another dimension - a region the viewer must decide is satisfying or not.

There are some fine moments in this little low budget movie and the presence of Maximillian Roeg, Diana Scarwid, and Randy Wayne lifts the cast to a higher level of competence. Whether or not the viewer is willing to go along with the ending will make the vote for or against the film. Bolton does have a fine touch with stories about the coming out of young men in his films and his ability to capture the Gothic atmosphere of the South is solid. Grady Harp, August 10

"Dream boy" is a drama about love between two teenage boys. Apart from picturing the process of discovering feeling they both share, it also says something about as serious matters as children abuse, homophoby.
I have never read the book, so I cannot make any comparison between it and the film.

Neverthless, it was the ending that made me change my mind about it. I kept asking myself: what the director had in mind closing it the way he did? Are we still in the same reality or suddenly we are exported to another dimension?
I must admit that the last part of the movie was quite creepy. And last minutes only intensified my feeling.
I was left longing for more appropriate ending.

Having read the book, I knew what to expect. There were slight changes. But overall remained true to the story. Subject matter very deep & disturbing. But at the same time very beautiful,sad, & tragic. Highly recomend. And high praise to the director, the actors,& and the movie as a whole.

It is such a shame that this movie is not released in DVD in US yet despite its all American production. However, it is definitely worth waiting for to watch. To appreciate the movie fully, I would suggest you read the book first in all its full glory. Have a box of tissue nearby because it will rend your heart. Then you can appreciate the movie in all its beautiful setting. The cast is fantastic. I am so captivated by the gorgeous A list young actors who play the leads. They play the awkward boys experiencing their first love against a difficult environment believeably. The only improvement I would have made is to put in more of the intimate conversations between the two boys from the book & stick to the book's ending more closely.

I have read the book 5x & watched this movie 3x. If you are a romantic at heart, you should definitely give the book & movie a try.

This is the story of Nathan (Stephan Bender) who has been moved to yet another new home by his dysfunctional father, who regularly moves using work as a cover story. Nathan is shy withdrawn and prone to acne, which even quality foundation wont really help with. This time they have landed up in St Francisville, situated just right of the arse end of nowhere.

Then he discovers that the boy next door, Roy (Maximillian Roeg), drives the school bus (which I found to be a bit of a stretch as he is a student at the school and a year above Nathan). The town is full of clap board houses, clap, clap Bible groups and clapped out cars. It is the sort of place that attracts dust. Nathan has the surf boy long hair and a languid approach to members of the opposite sex, which heighten the whole ambiguity of the film. He also has a couple of friends whose over eager `jockness' juxtapose brilliantly with Nathan's withdrawn effeminacy.

It turns out Nathan is good at English and Roy isn't, so they decide to do some after school study, which inevitably leads to some serious extra curricular activities. This would be all well and good, but something about Nathans father seems to indicate, that he too is up for a bit of homespun schooling.

This then is Brokeback Mountain, without the mountain or the interludes in `togetherness', it is beautifully filmed and the musical score is both dramatic and effective, the acting is also above passable. There is one comic cliché moment when one of the lads (Randy) says `Gee it is so hot out here', where have I heard that one before. Anyway it has enough twists and turns to keep your interest up, it is not a full on voyeur fest, but it does have its semi (oops) moments. And there are moments of real tension that make the viewing quite uncomfortable. The screen play and direction come from James Bolton who must be praised for making an emotional, emotive and challenging piece. He has also managed to get some well above average performances out of these unknown actors. This is a must for fans of gay interest cinema and for those who like coming of age tales.

the book dream boy was very good. the story of first love was well done.despite the years of abuse nathan could truly love someone. roy was the perfect choice for that first. however the ending not clear enough. NATHAN dies in that house. as he is losing his life he imagines a dream where he is reunited with roy at the end. the movie on the other hand alludes to this but very cryticly-not done right but hollywood dictates happy or happy enough endings in 99% of thier movies. overall the movie is good and still worth watching and buying. matt in stering hts. michigan

This movie lacked substance. The movie started slow and ended leaving you wondering where the heck is the ending. The movie had the opportunity to really explore each boy's life more, but spend too much time on a boring bus with no one talking.

Spoiler alert.

This was one of those movies that lacked dialog at many points, but it didn't hurt the movie one bit. Nobody ever said good acting involved constant talking.

The ending was a bit abrupt and unclear though. I have no problem with the turn the movie took, it just was not very clear and there are aspects which just aren't believable. So Roy gets caught in the act and then is so upset he allows the boy he has finally confessed his love for to be raped and murdered by his latently gay homophobic friend. Was there something else supernatural going on?

Sad and quite weird.