Customer Reviews
Cute movie, but less than I expected. 
2008-08-19
Being a Daniel Radcliffe fan, I waited months for this movie to finally be available for purchase on DVD. While it is a cute film, I was disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high, but it wasn't anything spectacular and I didn't enjoy the ending. It is worth watching, but unless you are a Dan Rad fan, I would say just rent the movie.
What Makes A Family 
2008-06-18
December Boys is a movie about the bonds of friendship, and what genuinely makes a family.
Maureen
as expected 2008-04-14
i <3 dan so i figured this would be worth owning and i was right. Great film!
A neat little message, which was enough for this movie to get by on. 2008-04-09
An older couple decides that it would be nice to have some youthful energy around and offers four young, orphan boys the opportunity to spend the summer with them on the beach. As the boys get a taste for what life would be like with the family they have always wanted, they begin to understand how much they mean to each other.
December Boys was not the most sophisticated movie. It was actually very simple in most aspects, but that was all it needed to be. It was just a touching story about four boys who, when they had no one else, always had each other. But I will warn you that it might take one giant tug at your heartstrings at the end.
I hope you have one or more people in your life for which you are thankful. If you have that, this movie should remind you somewhat of how fortunate you are. I thought it was comforting in how the movie reinforced the importance of family while encouraging you to look beyond constraints of legal relation when you consider who your family is.
Emotionally unstable and unmotivating, Daniel is a deplorable actor 
2008-04-06
December Boys was only premiered in four theatres, one was in Boston where I viewed it with a very eager audience to see Daniel Radcliffe break out from the forever mold of being Harry Potter his whole life. Sadly, he fails in every attempt to try to bring some sort of professionalism to his career. Just because someone is plucked from obscurity, like Eddie Furlong, does not make them an actor. Even with the proper training, a person can still blow at the craft, and although Daniel does have some potential, as his timing is good and his voice is solid, he finds no solid ground amongst an ensemble of other youth, who far carry their roles and the movie much better than he did as the eldest 'December Boy.'
Based upon the crown jeweled-award winning Australian Novel by Mike Noonan of the same name (more or less the equivalent to our (U.S.) 'Catcher in the Rye'), the screenplay missed the wonderment of the novel that so many kids and adults fell in love with and the boys (Fido, Spark, Misty and Maps) who escaped their hell of catholic oprhanage waiting for parents to bring them a home.
While the cinematography is breathtaking, the movie fails to ignite a fire in wanting the boy to find a home. The movie had no wide release, and clearly it shouldn't have, and while Daniel tries to escape from the eventual end of his Potter life, one wonders where his next turn will be.
December Boys is a family film, which lacks conviction and detail to directing, not only does it have a mediocre DVD cover, but the potential of this being a film to cherish for the ages, left me wondering what it would have been like with a director who has visionary capabilities. What a shame.
What it means to be an orphan 2008-03-26
They share the same birth month so the orphanage calls them December Boys. But these teens ? Maps Spit Spark and Misty ? have much more in common. With no hopes of ever joining a family they form their own familial bonds. Then the unexpected news comes that a young couple may adopt one of them and the long-time pals suddenly share something else: a rivalry to be the chosen one.Running Time: 105 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 085391189589 Manufacturer No: 1000027397
Pleasantly surprised 
2008-03-24
This is a great film, and I think I will like it even more once I read the book. I agree with another viewer, that I think some of the characters need more explanation to understand them.
Daniel Radcliffe shines as Maps, the eldest orphan of the four boys. He brings both powerful emotion, and heartwarming scenes to the movie.
This was a perfect... 2008-03-17
waste of a friday night!
December boys seemed to have alot of the right elements but it never really meshed & just plodded along.The movie & the people were uninteresting & uneventful.With the possible exception of
the bespectacled Misty(one of the december boys).Maps(harry potter)was stiff,though I never saw him in the H.Potter movies so I don't know if this is the norm for him.The other two December boys were completely forgettable.
The movie had it's predictable glimpses of veiled breasts & had an extremely annoying precocious teen girl named Lucy.It was also tough at times understanding their accents which further alienated me from this movie.
The only good thing going for this movie was the beautiful scenery,but this too got old quickly because it could not substitute for the lack of substance in the movie.
All & all, december boys is a very dull "coming of age" movie.
*** I noticed after writing this that I am in the minority with my review.So if you don't want to take my word for it,see for yourself.(and possibly waste a perfectly good evening)
Loved this touching and poignant movie 2008-03-09
This lovely film was so undeserving of the low ratings it received. The cinematography was stunning, the story heart-warming and beautifully acted by the four young actors. Harry Potter made Daniel Radcliffe a star, this movie made him an actor. It was a brave choice to follow up HP with this "little" film but he should be extremely proud of it, as should all involved. The end was unexpected and left a huge lump in my throat. This movie no doubt will end up in my collection to be savoured over and over, I loved it. Highly recommend it.
Wonderful little gem 2008-02-24
I watched this mainly because I was curious how Daniel Radcliffe's acting fares in a non-Harry Potter movie. For his fans, be assured that Radcliffe acquitted himself very well: his performance was appropriately calibrated to the character, subtle and effective. But I grew to love "December Boys" as I watched. It is a wonderful respite from the special-effects laden products churned out by Hollywood today. The story is interesting: how 4 orphan boys spent a "summer" in the 1960s by the sea, far from the desolate dry outback of their orphanage; the characters they met; the boys' competition to be chosen for adoption by a young couple; triumphs and disappointments; a near drowning; and a life-changing decision. Everything was done well--the beautiful cove setting, the writing & directing, the acting, and musical score. The movie ends with a flash forward half-a-century to our present day, which is unexpected and very moving. This is one of those movies that stay with you. I love it.
