What Do The Critics Say?

"There is nothing like nostalgia for one's childhood to create instant sentiment, and this gentle yet affecting film is like the visualisation of memories shrouded in that nostalgic cloud. Most impressive of all Rod Hardy's achievements is the casting, both of the children and the adults. The adults are terrific, and Sullivan Stapleton makes much of his limited role, adding considerably to the film's depth." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "Director Rod Hardy musters his fine cast to provide a nuanced story about coming of age, friendship, old age and young love." Robin Clifford REELING REVIEWS "The movie earns its right to sentiment through its performances and gentle solicitousness toward its young heroes." Gene Seymour NEWSDAY "An engrossing Australian film about four orphans whose deep bonds of friendship are tested during a summer vacation in paradise." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat SPIRITUALITY AND PRACTICE "Enhanced by an exotic locale, the movie overcomes a well-trodden narrative path and unflinchingly brandishes its sentimentality as it stakes out its crowd-pleasing territory." Kevin Crust LOS ANGELES TIMES

"Radcliffe is the big draw, but he's really a supporting player, just one of the parentless wonders sent to live with a loving couple one glorious, life-changing summer." Nathan Rabin ONION AV CLUB "An absorbing, gentle slice-of-life, light on plot but heavy on smaller moments of keen human interaction and observation." Dustin Putman THEMOVIEBOY.COM "Though familiar as an old shoe, this is straightforward and well told." Joshua Katzman CHICAGO READER "Tasteful and gorgeously photographed coming-of-age story." Lou Lumenick NEW YORK POST "The December Boys resonates on every level. Under the sensitive and sure helm of director Rod Hardy, this adaptation of Michael Noonan's novel captures the richness and melancholy of a childhood gone by. Shot in and around the striking, unique setting of Kangaroo Island. A moving coming of age story that canvasses faith and family, "The December Boys" reminds us why our childhoods often hold the key to our heart." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

The Location - Kangaroo Island

Think of an island seven times the size of Singapore, literally crawling with wildlife. The koalas relaxing at home in native trees. Seals lazing beside you on the beach. There are echidnas, platypi, goannas, wallabies and kangaroos. So mesmerising. Half the native bushland on Kangaroo Island remains just as it was when British navigator Matthew Flinders put a name to this untamed wilderness in 1802. And more than one-third of the Island is National or Conservation Park. Beauty comes in many forms: views from seaside cottages and cliff-top cabins; delicate handcrafted glassware; a day at the races in Kingscote. And, there's the food and wine. Take a drive: collect wine, cheeses, oysters and lobsters and indulge on a secluded beach. And another thing that's guaranteed: the greeting you'll get from the locals. No wonder the UK Sunday Telegraph called Kangaroo Island 'one of earth's last unspoilt refuges'. Friendly people, cool breezes, uncrowded beaches and geological wonders. That's Kangaroo Island.

The Inside Story It was over ten years ago that producer Richard Becker bought the film rights to "December Boys". Becker says that he had always enjoyed stories about humanity, friendship and love, and that he was very moved by the story of these four orphan boys: "I think everyone has a summer they can remember where they suddenly grew up, where the journey was particularly profound, where meaningful things happened. That’s what I read in this story and that was its appeal. I wasn’t an orphan and I certainly didn’t experience some of the things that they boys went through, but it still resonated with me." In 1998, writer Mark Rosenberg came on board the project and then, says Becker, "the script really started to take shape. By 2000, we had a script I was truly proud of and we started to work on putting the finance together." By that time, Becker had asked Rod Hardy to direct the film. "I thought it was a magic story. I’ve always been attracted to films about people growing up, and this story has a particular charm about it, Says Hardy. Daniel Radcliffe plays Maps, the oldest of the boys. "I was sent a lot of scripts but none of them really appealed to me," Radcliffe said . "When I read "December Boys" I loved it. It was a very simple story but I thought it was very beautiful. And my character Maps is very, very different to Harry, so I knew that would be a challenge for me. I’ve been playing Harry Potter for five years, so it was quite amazing to do something different. Hopefully people will see me in a new light after this." Becker says having Daniel on board was a big plus for the other boys. "The day Daniel arrived on set his professionalism and focus really lifted the other boys and he really helped to glue them together. He’s a consummate performer and an extraordinary actor." Christian Byers plays Spark who he says is "the real fun loving guy of the four. He looks at all the lingerie ads, he smokes, he’s out there looking for fun. He was a great character to play. We had heaps of fun making the film. And I really liked the fact that the story was about four boys whose friendship brings them together, and it’s about going through tough times together, and sticking together." Lee Cormie plays Misty. "Misty is the youngest, but he’s the most mature. He’s the one that says 'don’t do that, don’t do this', and he makes his hair nice and tucks his shirt in. I really liked the story and I thought it was very well written. It’s taken the producers fourteen years to make this film; that’s before I was born!" Of Radcliffe he says "He’s a great bloke! I thought it was fantastic that he was going to be in the film and I was very excited to meet him. He’s really nice. He’s also very focused. It was a great learning experience for me because I could just follow in his footsteps." James Fraser plays Spit. "When I first read the script I just knew that I would love to be in this film. I play Spit, a character who loves himself and thinks that the sun doesn’t rise without his permission! Maps is his idol though: he sees him as a parental figure." For James, staying in focus was the hardest challenge, "I have a very happy home life but Spit doesn’t. So I had to imagine how that would feel and then keep that feeling for long periods of time. That was the most difficult part." Director Rod Hardy stressed how important it was to find "four boys who had chemistry together but who also had the maturity to understand the work and the hard effort that goes into making a film. I found all that with these four boys; they were fantastic." "The four of them made a great combination. There’s a real friendship between them that radiates from the screen and that was very central to making this film work," Becker adds. "December Boys" was made on location in Adelaide and Kangaroo Island, with interiors at the South Australian Film Corporation Studio. Hardy had worked some years ago on Kangaroo Island. "I knew what a unique place it is. The script called for a Cove where the film is set that was beautiful, but also desolate. Coves aren’t that easy to find but the one at Kangaroo Island was perfect. It sits directly west so the sun sets between the headlands and gives it a magical feeling. We were also able to build our own town there," he said. "It meant we could work out of Adelaide and film there, but then not have too far to travel to Kangaroo Island.” "South Australia has an unusual coastline that you don’t often find, which was perfect for this film," says Becker. "In addition to Kangaroo Island, we also filmed at The Remarkables, at Admiral’s Arch and at Secret Valley. So it’s a compilation of locations that blend together to form the imaginary Cove where our characters live." The producers kept a much more subdued feel to the outback scenes. Says Hardy, "There’s a feeling in the orphanage that the Catholic Church is very much overseeing these boys, so we went for very subdued colour. As we progress through the story, the colours get brighter, and when they arrive at the carnival there’s a dancing of lights and the colours are getting richer. By the time we get to the Cove and the boys run freely across the sand, the sea is sparkling and the sky is really blue. The change also progresses the mood of the film." "The film’s design," says producer Richard Becker, "was larger than life. That’s because we’re watching the film through the thoughts and memories of a now adult Misty. Our memories are always different from reality. When many of us go back to look at the house we grew up in, it’s always much smaller than we remembered it as a child. So we enhanced the design and the look of the film to reflect that." The film is noteable not just for its young cast and its scenery, but for having a delighful adult cast. Jack Thompson is one of Australia’s finest actors. Thompson won international acclaim for his role in "Breaker Morant" for which he was cited as Best Supporting Actor at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Australian Film Institute’s Best Actor Award. For many years Thompson has been Australia’s Good Will Ambassador to the United Nations. His career has been recognized with the Order of Australia for his contributions to the Australian Film Industry. In addition, the Critics Circle of Australia awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award and the Cinema Owners Association of Australia gave him its Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Film Entertainment. Sullivan Stapleton has worked in both film and television since graduating from Sandringham Secondary College, most notably on the long-running popular drama, "The Secret Life of Us", for Network Ten playing the character Justin for two years. More recently Sullivan worked with Sigrid Thornton in the role of Father Martin on the Australian telemovie, "Little Oberon". Sullivan’s other television credits include roles in some of Australia’s most popular series, "Blue Heelers", "Neighbours", "Halifax FD", "Good Guy Bad Guys", "Raw FM", "MDA", "Something in the Air", and "Stingers". Ralph Cotterill attended the Drama Centre, London, and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company before coming to Australia in 1973. He is an accomplished theatre actor with credits including "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", "Macbeth", "The Seagull", "The Alchemist", "The Judas Kiss" and "The Ham Funeral" (for Company B), "Hamlet", "Loot" and "A Hard God" (Sydney Theatre Company), "Lulu" (State Theatre South Australia); "Road" (Ensemble Theatre) and, "Doctor Faustus" and "King Lear" (Bondi Pavilion Theatre). Television credits include "Four Minute Mile", "Halifax FD", "GP", and "Mission Impossible". Cotterill's film credits include: "The Light Horsemen", "Burke & Wills" (with Jack Thompson"), "Bad Boy Bubby" (with AFI winner Nicholas Hope) and most recently, "The Proposition" (with Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone). Victoria Hill trained at the University Drama Centre in South Australia. Film credits include "Macbeth", "Hunt Angels", "Boy Town", "Siam Sunset" and "Dead End". The film is narrated by Max Cullen whose film credits include "Sunday Too Far Away", "My Brilliant Career" "Spider & Rose" and, "Lightning Jack". Synopsis

Maps, Misty, Sparks and Spit are four best friends who live in a Catholic orphanage, hoping to be adopted but learning that dreams don't come true, and that adults often let kids down. Because they were all born in December, they are the first group of boys who get to travel to a small cove and stay with an older couple, Bandy and Skipper, two of the orphanage's benefactors who have offered to house the kids during the Christmas season. Once off on this rare vacation, the boys play in the sand and water, eat well, ride on a motorcycle, go to a carnival, and experience other new and exciting things as they quickly learn that there is more to the world than they ever imagined and they get to meet some very strange characters in the process. But when Misty overhears that Teresa and her husband, Fearless, are considering adopting one of them, the battle is on to impress the couple.

The Verdict "The prerequisite to thoroughly enjoying "December Boys" is childhood memories. It doesn't matter whether you were an orphan or part of a family structure, we all have childhood memories involving holidays with mum and dad or our grandparents and for many of us, they were in our minds, great adventures. I suspect that if you were in the same psition as Maps, Misty, Sparks and Spit, leaving the surrounds of an orphanage to holiday with unknown hosts in a wonderous seaside setting would be an adventure on a grand scale. It would also be something the mind would sustain throughout the rest of your life. That is the joy created by this joyous little film, "December Boys". The cast are great. It's pointless trying to fault any of them. All the 'boys' do exceptionally well. Much kudos goes to Daniel Radcliffe who I believe, knowing his star power, underplays Maps so that all the boys shine through. And they do! Jack Thompson, god bless him, shows once again why he is such an iconic part of the australian cinema landscape. And speaking of landscapes. "December Boys" makes a wonderful statement for South Australia and it's jewel in the crown, Kangaroo Island. Whenever I meet or are introduced to visitors the first thing I ask is, "are you going to Kangaroo Island?" It is a spectacular place to visit and a must for any tourist coming to our shores. Forget Perth's Rottnest Island. It doesn't hold a candle to the best kept secret in the country. It's a pity many critics have been a little unkind to "December Boys" because I'm sure that when it's eventually released on DVD many viwers will wish they had seen it on the biggest screen possible. Re-live your childhood memories with the "December Boys". Very recommended. 3 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "DECEMBER BOYS" stars .......
Daniel Radcliffe ["The Tailor of Panama" and "Harry Potter I - V"]; Lee Cormie ["Darkness Falls" and "The Situation Room"]; Christian Byers ["Opal Dream"]; James Fraser ["BlackJack: At the Gates"]; Frank Gallacher ["Goodbye Paradise", "Proof", "Dark City" and "Black and White"]; 1982 AFI award winner Kris McQuade ["Strictly Ballroom", "Billy's Holiday", "Better Than Sex", "Mullet" and "Ned Kelly"]; Teresa Palmer ["The Grudge 2", "2:37" and "Wolf Creek"]; 1994 & 2005 AFI Award winner Max Cullen ["Encounter at Raven's Gate", "Billy's Holiday", "The Nugget" and "Jindabyne"] and 1980 Best Supporting Actor Cannes Film Festival & Two time AFI Award winner Jack Thompson ["Sunday Too Far Away", "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith", "Breaker Morant", "The Man from Snowy River", "Broken Arrow", "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" and "Oyster Farmer"] as Bandy.
"DECEMBER BOYS" was .......
directed by Rod Hardy ["Prisoner", "The X Files", "The Practice" and "Battlestar Galactica"]; screenplay by Marc Rosenberg ["Heatwave", "Encounter at Raven's Gate", "Dingo" and "Serpent's Lair"]; adapted from the novel by Michael Noonan ["Whiplash" and "The Patchwork Hero"]; costume design by Marriott Kerr ["Shine", "Australian Rules", "Black and White" and "Wolf Creek"]; production design by Leslie Binns ["Alvin Purple", "The Last of the Knucklemen" and "Robinson Crusoe"]; edited by 1995 AFI Award winner Dany Cooper ["Angel Baby", "The Well" and "The Monkey's Mask"]; cinematography by 1996 & 2006 Australian Cinematographers Society Award of Distinction recipient David Connell ["Robinson Crusoe", "The Night Flier" and "The Snow Walker"]; original music by Carlo Giacco ["15 Amore", "The Gatekeeper" and "Safety In Numbers"]; produced by Richard Becker ["Hawks", "Gross Misconduct" and "The Real Macaw"]. Who's Who?

Daniel Radcliffe Lee Cormie Christian Byers James Fraser Frank Gallacher Jack Thompson Kris McQuade Teresa Palmer Sullivan Stapleton Victoria Hill Max Cullen Michael Norman Mike Welton Ralph Cotterill Paul Blackwell Judi Farr Carmel Johnson Carole-Anne Fooks Rory Walker Suzie Wilks Kobe Donaldson Julian Jones Andy McPhee Laura Weston Kasey Willson Susie Struth Anna Westley

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Maps Misty Sparks Spit Father Scully Bandy Mrs McAnsh Lucy Fearless Teresa Narrator / Adult Misty Adult Spark Adult Spit Shellback Watson Reverend Mother Sister Beatrice Sister Edna Father Mother Willie Older Boy Foreman Curvy Blonde Cartwheeling Nun Cartwheeling Nun Cartwheeling Nun

Run Time 105 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2007 - Warner Independent - All Rights Reserved ©2007 All Rights Reserved - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark Laws Apply.