Review of The History Boys (2006) by Tonypolito — 19 Nov 2010

Eight 1980s middle-class Brit boys prep for entrance exams at Oxford under two instructors of different approach.

Half of the film is devoted to the actors debating whether learning is a game by which a person gets ahead in life (and so the system should be gamed) or if learning deserves serious pursuit since it serves in other, more meaningful ways.

It's not in the least a trivial question, given the former stance is how most college students perceive the matter today, but also not a new or insightful question either.

All eight students are eventually accepted to Oxford, no matter which side of the argument they sided in their quest. Further, no teacher actually teaches in the film; in every scene the students have already fully prepared the lesson. These two facts alone evidence that the film takes no position whatsoever in the debate it supposedly considers.

And that's not surprising, since the film's REAL intent is to use this altruistic poser as a framework for the other half of the film - to illustrate the issues that face four males, each at different tragic stages in the development of their homosexual persona and to put our sympathies with them.

THAT theme is, of course, the REAL reason why the play (from which this film is derived) was lavished with five Tony awards on Broadway.

There are decent performances, as well as slivers of interesting intellectual debate in the dialogue, that float the film along as it barely treads water toward its conclusion that being that the eight's chosen lots in life, beyond Oxford, turn out to be fairly random, unaccomplished (for Oxford grads)... and without any influence whatsoever by their prep experience.

And that's hardly an endorsement for either method of teaching - or any other message about teaching this film pretends to portray.

Not recommended.