Good Boys delivers the raunchy comedy of Superbad while having a dash of innocence in the young protagonists. An unoriginal plot that has been rehashed repeatedly shines through with its characters and heartfelt story.

Three “tweens” who have been best friends since kindergarten are invited to their first kissing party. This invitation sets in place events that get the children into numerous wild situations. The film begins innocently with the children wanting to learn how to kiss, but soon unfolds when their drone gets stolen by two teenage girls. Then they get involved with everything from handling drugs to fighting an army of fraternity boys. 

The three young actors who portray the children are great in their roles. They are in a time in their life when they think they are bigger and tougher than they really are. This comes off brilliantly on screen, especially when they are interacting with adult scenarios. The children are very naïve in the adult oriented scenes and that make for the funniest scenes in the film. 

The director, Gene Stupnitsky, made his directional debut with this film. There are times that I felt he could have been handled the film much better. For example, there are several times at the end when it felt like the film was going to end, but then it kept going, but I think he did a great job at balancing the comedy and drama.

‘Good Boys’ became unexpectedly heartfelt in the last half-hour of the movie. The children believe that their friendship will last forever because they have been best friends for years. However, during the course of the film, they disagree a lot and realize that they are on separate paths as they enter middle school.

I honestly enjoyed the ending scenes where the boys have accepted who they will become. Throughout the film, each boy is pretending they are someone they aren’t in order to fit in. It is rewarding when they finally decide to chase their passions, even at the risk of losing their friendship.

This theme of growing up will hit home for anyone who has a best friend that they never talk to anymore. We all go through a time where we change, and our friend groups change with it. The film depicts this in an amazing fashion.

The three young actors save the film that could have been a dull reimagining of previous raunchy comedies. This film may make you feel uncomfortable because of the young ages of the actors and the crude nature of their interactions with adult objects. However, there is a great story behind the sex-themed comedy that makes for an enjoyable watch.