Good Boys  ★★

THE current generation of comedians seem to think they invented gross-out comedies.

But this sub-genre has been around for decades now, going back to Animal House and Porkys.

Those earlier films may not have used the word ‘fuck’  dozens of times, but they still shocked in their time.

The latest effort, Good Boys, attempts to take things even further to the edge by having 12-year -old boys, rather than teenagers, say ‘fuck’ dozens of times.

But, unlike 2007’s Superbad, the film it most wants to emulate,  Good Boys falls short.

In essence the film is built around two jokes – watching kids get into scenarios that are usually reserved for older teenagers or adults, such as drug dealing and interacting with police,  and watching the same kids deal with aspects of sex they are naive about, such as internet porn and sex toys.

These two jokes are repeated throughout, all the time accompanied by the three leads saying ‘fuck’ a lot.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not offended – Goodfellas, which holds the world record for most ‘fucks’ uttered on screen is one of my favourite films – but it’s funniest when it’s in context.

Based on the Good Boys trailer, which has producer Seth Rogen telling the actors who play the boys that they can say ‘fuck’ a lot but aren’t old enough to watch a film in which they say ‘fuck’ a lot, Rogen and his director/co-writer Gene Stupnitsky think this is hilarious.

Maybe in concept, but in execution it’s funny for the first 15 minutes (as long as you haven’t seen the full trailer which shows everything) but you quickly tire of it, as you no doubt have reading ‘fuck’ written repeatedly in this review.

What Rogen did get right is the casting of the three leads – Jacob Tremblay as Max, Keith L. Williams as Lucas and Brady Noon as Thor – who do their utmost to make the jokes hit.

It’s not their fault that some do but most don’t. It’s just that the whole idea of crossing Stand By Me with The Hangover is a little too wierd.