Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

jonathandunford Last night we watched the Boychoir starring Dustin Hoffman. As musicians it was so terribly clear that most everything was wrong! As often in Hollywood films they don't seem to make as much an effort to understand music as they do to have the correct decors, regional accents etc. Dustin Hoffman doesn't seem to even be able to keep time in the Hallelujah Chorus in the Messiah! Scenes that make the choir director (Dustin Hoffman) seem more like a football coach than a musician! Who would talk incessantly while rehearsing? Also with complicated polyphonic music such as the Tallis it would be very very RARE that the choir director conducts with NO SCORE! On top of this how corny to think the absolute summit of choral victory is the Messiah by Handel? This is the best in choir music? So sad that the US is so far behind in classical music compared to Europe. The final concert shows once again Hollywood's totally illiterate in classical music. Two arias end on the dominant, this is in terms of cinema cutting the film of brutally just before the solution to the plot! In our modern world of 2015 we have made such perfections in images, sound etc but we are at a kindergarten level in music. Too bad that Plato's ideal of society where music has an equal level with the rest of education has been so terribly missed by most Hollywood producers. Shame on you! Next time you make a movie about a boy's choir maybe you should study one or two before writing your script.

Victoria Weisfeld This movie, released in 2015, had a brief run recently at Princeton's nonprofit movie theater. It's the story of the fictional "National Boychoir School" and features the singing of students from the local, real-life American Boychoir School. ABS has fallen on hard financial times, and if it needed an infomercial to stimulate a really big donation, this is it. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Debra Winger, and Eddie Izzard in the adult roles, but director François Girard and writer Ben Ripley demand little of their talents. The story dwells mostly on the boys, and one particular boy (Garrett Wareing)—a misfit who arrives at the school unable even to read music, yet such a vocal prodigy that . . . yes, you can guess the rest. When the credits rolled and it turned out the movie had some affiliation with the Hallmark Hall of Fame, that was one of the least surprising moments in a string of non-surprises. Leaving aside its dramatic shortcomings, the creators' generosity with the music lifts the whole production. Actual ABS students are used in the production, according to a local news story, and director Girard said of the school, "It was extraordinary to see them at work. What they accomplish goes way beyond music." A good movie for kids and a pleasant, if unchallenging interlude for grownups, too.

caroline-37391 I saw the movie yesterday. I liked the french movie 'the chorus' so I expected something like that.I felt it difficult to focus on this movie because of a few things:1. Failed to develop the main characters Yes. The boy is troubled but the deep emotions that he goes through has not been clearly depicted. At first, he fights with his schoolmate. This has made me think that the boy is angry and sad but why he thinks music is important to him has not been explained. Does he like singing? And if yes, why? How did the school principal find out about his talent? Is he singing just to be recognized by people including his dad? The movie just shows that the boy is talented. And the story goes on as if that is enough. The great teachers at the school have lacked in characteristics. Maybe there were too many teachers and the movie was too short to understand what they are after. Just passionate about music? Why is it so important that their choir should be on the top? Because of pride? 2. The high 'D' I did not like the scene when the three teachers visit Carvelle's. The scene was made just to increase dramatic effect. But it was unnecessary and out of place. All I could think was they look very cold standing outside. And why high 'D'?? Famous musicians are recognized for their talents because of their ability to sing music beautifully not because they can reach high note. Pavarotti was famous because he could sing high notes well and powerfully but every music lovers know that people loved to hear him singing because of his ability to sing sincerely and true to emotions. I think the last concert in the movie was a disaster. The modification to the great music 'Messiah' was simply not beautiful although the boy's voice was beautiful. I wish they had sung music that could emphasize his voice.3. The lives of students at the school The students at the school probably live very different lives from other teenagers. They must be going through lots of troubles knowing that their voices will be gone at some stage and they need to live up to expectations from their parents, etc. I think it could have been better if the movie has focused on the lives of the students more. It could have enhance the dramatic aspects of the movie.

velijn But it isn't, not in this movie. Whatever the reviewers thought about the settings, the actors, it will always be a personal opinion, which is fine by me. No matter that almost every adult character phones in his or her part, or that the script is packed with the usual clichés - it's "Oliver" all over again, and Garett Wareing even looks like Mark Lester - if the main ingredient is good we'll sit through the rest. But it isn't good, not by a long note. It is the music itself. And its part in the movie and with the reviewers. Were there truly "angelic voices" to hear, as one reviewer noted? Did we hear the same "Hallelujah", with the same godawful "additions"? And what about the D-high nonsense, when C-6 is the highest in all (boy) soprano scores? Never mind the improbable settings; it is truly a miracle that that our boy hero succeeds in learning all the intricate notations and harmonies in a jiffy where most choristers need years of practice. We may forgive August Rush (from the movie of that name) to spring up from street urchin to master composer and conductor in less time than it takes to turn a page in the score or script, but that movie was set up as a fairy tale, so we don't mind that very much. But this movie did try to put in a bit of reality of a chorister-to-be, of a choir school, of childish competition (by the adults), of the art of learning music, of singing. The two best scenes in it are just glimpses of what have could have been. It's at the beginning, when (in an all too brief shot) the boys learn about the intricacies of scales and harmonies in class, and the moment when Hoffman explains the majestic beauty of Tallis' "Spem in alium", literally surrounded by the glory of that music. But these grace notes are held not long enough to justify the butchering of Händel's Hallelujah, including the "cute" boy solo. What is the matter? Can't we just enjoy music, choral music, on its own? Must we disnify every work of art to make it palatable for the greatest possible range of spectators? Must we go to yet another stale variation of the "from rags to riches" syndrome? Of childish pranks that range every false note on the scale of probability? The choir school tradition in the US maybe somewhat lacking in tradition (it's hard to come up against a thousand year old history of British cathedral choirs), but not in talent, witnessing the many brilliant choir performances all over the country. But not in this movie. It will be a fine Christmas tearjerker, and Garrett Wareing is stealing almost all the scenes, and justly so. But the film is certainly not the high note we've come to expect from the maker of "The Red Violin" or "Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould".If you're genuinely interested in the true history of chorister schools, try to get you hand on DVD documentaries over this great tradition - the Salisbury Cathedral Choir and King's College Choir come to mind. If you want a musical tearjerker, try "August Rush", an improbable story but a true glimpse in what music can do to you, or "Shine". If none of all that matters, well go ahead and watch "Boychoir". You've been warned.