If you watch the restricted trailer for the new comedy “Good Boys,” you could be forgiven for expecting the sixth-grade version of the raunchy 2007 teen coming-of-age comedy “Superbad” — especially as it’s made clear “Good Boys” is from the same producers (Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg).
And, look, “Superbad Jr.” wouldn’t be an unfair nickname for this tween-centric movie. It is, after all, about a trio of male friends ultimately focused on a fast-approaching party involving the opposite sex, and it is soaked with adult language and sexually charged sophomoric jokes.
However, there’s simply an undeniable sweetness that permeates “Good Boys” and reminds us that these characters are not remotely ready for adulthood — they do not understand most of the sexually tinted situations in which they are involved. And, more than anything, the three boys cherish the friendship they share.
Essentially, “Good Boys” is an easy 90 minutes that, while never remarkable, entertain much more often than they do not.
The three chums — Max (Jacob Tremblay), Thor (Brady Noon) and, last but not least, Lucas (Keith W. Williams) — refer to themselves as “the Beanbag Boys.” (Yes, they like to hang out on beanbags. Don’t overthink it.)
Pals since kindergarten, they tend to have nerdy pursuits. However, Max is the first to enter a new phase in life, the boy trying to get some alone time in his room with his laptop so he can design a very shapely female character in a video game and, well, you know. When his dad (Will Forte of “The Last Man on Earth”) walks in on him and, eventually, figures out what was about to happen, he’s moved emotionally.
“You’re growing up — I’m excited for you!” Dad says.
“Stop smiling!” Max protests.
Max has a huge crush on a girl at school named Brixlee (Millie Davis). He’s never actually spoken to her, but the two have exchanged glances, and Max even has made her a necklace he hopes to give to her.
When he’s invited to a party by the coolest kid in class, Soren (Izaac Wang), who explains it will be a “kissing party,” Max wants to go, knowing Brixlee will be there. However, he insists Lucas and Thor be invited, as well. Although Soren finds them to be “random,” he agrees.
One big problem: Max has no idea how to kiss a girl, so the Beanbag Boys set about gaining that knowledge. Among the things they attempt is typing ‘PORB” into a search engine, correcting the last letter before hitting the Enter key. The guys are NOT ready for what they see in the first video result they click. Worse, it isn’t even helpful.
Next, they try to use a drone Max’s father needs for work to spy on an older neighbor girl, Hannah (Molly Gordon of “Booksmart”), and her drug-dealing frat-guy boyfriend, Benji (Josh Caras). That, um, also doesn’t go well, and the boys run afoul of Hannah and her bestie, Lily (Midori Francis), who become their enemies for most of the duration of “Good Boys.”
Co-written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupitsky, who also directs, “Good Boys” feels like it probably gets a lot right about what it’s like to be a sixth-grade boy in 2019 and have the kind of friendship the Beanbag Boys share. (Although they met while working on the 2000 Harold Ramis-directed comedy “Bedazzled,” Eisenberg and Stupitsky — who also wrote for “The Office” and made their feature debut with 2011’s “Bad Teacher” — say they feel as though they’ve known each other since childhood.)
The myriad wrong ideas the boys have about this and that never quite get old, from the “weapons” Thor finds in his parents’ closet to Max vehemently protesting that he’s never given anyone an unwanted massage after being called a “misogynist” by one of the older girls. (As you’d expect, Max also has only a so-so idea of how a tampon works.)
The three boys are a blast to spend time with even though none of the trio of actors is fantastic here, including Tremblay, the best-known of the three thanks to his strong work in 2015’s “Room” and 2017’s “Wonder.”
The best work is turned in by Williams (“The Last Man on Earth”), but he’s aided by the fact that Lucas is by far the most interestingly written of the three characters. The most-innocent of the three and incredible nervous about getting into any kind of trouble, Lucas is shaken early on by the revelation his parents (Retta of “Good Girls” and Lil Rel Howery of “Get Out”) will be getting a divorce. Just about every moment with Lucas on screen is a delight.
That’s not quite true of “Good Boys” as a whole, as it really would have benefited from some more-compelling story elements.
Still, Eisenberg, Stupitsky, Rogen, Goldberg and all else involved do a nice job of taking you back to a heightened version of sixth-grade.
Scrape away the raunchy jokes and you’re left with a heartwarming portrait of an enduring friendship, albeit one that evolves over the course of the movie.
It’s sort of a shame tweens really shouldn’t see it.
‘Good Boys’
2½ stars
Directed by: Gene Stupnitsky
Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon
Rated: R for strong crude sexual content, drug and alcohol material, and language throughout — all involving tweens.
Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
