Boy A

A-

John Crowley

John Crowley's fantastic "Boy A" is a meditation on guilt and the human capacity for change that is a terrific example of how a film can tackle a controversial issue in a way that avoids moralizing and actually stirs healthy debate.

"Boy A" open with the release of Jack, a young offender now in his early twenties who, we learn slowly throughout the film, was incarcerated for a violent crime committed when he was still a young boy. With the help of his parole officer Terry, Jack attempts to rebuild his life in a new city, taking a job as a delivery boy in a local plant. Things begin smoothly for Jack who makes friends quickly with his coworkers and even succeeds in landing a girlfriend. Jack's new life, however, is constantly threatened by his past, a past the he and Terry try hard to hide from those around him.

Crowley's film is truly remarkable on many levels. The acting, most of it done by relative unknowns, is fantastic. The work of Andrew Garfield, who plays Jack, is especially worth mentioning as Garfield gives a textured, multifaceted performance that reveals Jack to be what Crowley no doubt wanted him to be--a kindhearted young man who is nonetheless deeply affected both by the guilt of his actions as well as by the burden of having to hide his previous life from those around him. Crowley's direction is superb and he does what most directors often fail or simply refuse to do by taking himself as far out of the story as possible and allowing the characters and story to develop on their own. "Boy A's" veracity and emotional poignancy come mostly from the fact that Jack is a character who appears authentic; his existence is not simply in order to drive home a point about the nature of young offenders or the shortcomings of the penal system in the UK or even the nefarious effect of media on the recovery and reintegration of criminals into society.
As terrific as "Boy A" is I still must admit that I was disappointed by Crowley's refusal to make some tough choices in telling the story. There was a great opportunity here to tell the story of the rehabilitation of a young offender in the wake of a horrible crime that he had gladly or at least willingly participated in, a more potent storyline that would have given audience much more food for thought than "Boy A's" portrayal of Jack as the unwitting participant in a murder committed by the more emotionally scarred Philip. The audience is therefore forced to feel outright sympathy for the kindhearted Jack as opposed to any other mix of emotions which is unfortunate since the subject matter touched on by Crowley lends itself very well to a fascinating study of guilt, culpability, and the ability of human's to truly change, all fascinating subjects that are not often enough skillfully touched on in the cinema.
Nevertheless, there is far too much good in "Boy A" to ignore and Crowley's film deserves not only to be seen but the issues he raises on the rehabilitation of young offers and their reintegration into society are both pertinent and necessary to consider.