Boys Are Back In Town, The
- Genre - Drama
- Country of origin - UK, Australia
- Language - English
- Running time - N/A
- Year of production - 2008
In Pre-Production
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From the Academy Award's nominated director of Shine, comes an inspiring, funny and poignant story of a father who discovers that parenthood is more complicated than just saying yes.
Sports writer Joe Warr, an Englishman living in Queensland, Australia, loves his wife Katy and their six-year-old son Artie. But father and son suffer a huge emotional upheaval in their lives when Katy suddenly dies. Rebuffing Katy's mum's suggestion that she look after the boy in the week while Joe is at work, the young widower says he's determined to do it "my way". Joe tries to create a happy atmosphere in the home, even if that means French fries and ketchup for breakfast and mud on the carpet. "Hog heaven", Joe calls it, but his attempts at macho bonding with his son can't replace the emotional vacuum left by the loss of the little boy's mother.
Joe finds himself drawn to Laura, the single parent of one of Artie's school pals, but on the night of his son's riotous seventh birthday party he receives a call from his ex-wife Flicka, who lives back in England.
The pair's 14-year-old son Harry, who has never visited his father in Australia, would like to fly out after Christmas for an unspecified period. Harry is initially fazed by the chaotic state of his father's beachfront house, but soon finds himself testing the limits of even Joe's tolerant attitude. Events spiral out of control when Joe's boss pressures him into covering the Australian tennis open in Melbourne, and he leaves the boys behind for a few days.
The older beach kids take advantage of Joe's absence to have a riotous party at his home, and by the time Joe gets to hear his elder son's increasingly desperate phone messages it's too late: the police have intervened; Artie has been rescued by his maternal grandmother; and Harry has gone back to England.
Now separated once again by thousands of miles, Harry refuses to speak on the phone to his father. But having been absent for so long of the boy's life, Joe is not prepared to accept their bond has been broken.
If he's ever to see his sons together under one roof again, he knows he must take dramatic action.
Sports writer Joe Warr, an Englishman living in Queensland, Australia, loves his wife Katy and their six-year-old son Artie. But father and son suffer a huge emotional upheaval in their lives when Katy suddenly dies. Rebuffing Katy's mum's suggestion that she look after the boy in the week while Joe is at work, the young widower says he's determined to do it "my way". Joe tries to create a happy atmosphere in the home, even if that means French fries and ketchup for breakfast and mud on the carpet. "Hog heaven", Joe calls it, but his attempts at macho bonding with his son can't replace the emotional vacuum left by the loss of the little boy's mother.
Joe finds himself drawn to Laura, the single parent of one of Artie's school pals, but on the night of his son's riotous seventh birthday party he receives a call from his ex-wife Flicka, who lives back in England.
The pair's 14-year-old son Harry, who has never visited his father in Australia, would like to fly out after Christmas for an unspecified period. Harry is initially fazed by the chaotic state of his father's beachfront house, but soon finds himself testing the limits of even Joe's tolerant attitude. Events spiral out of control when Joe's boss pressures him into covering the Australian tennis open in Melbourne, and he leaves the boys behind for a few days.
The older beach kids take advantage of Joe's absence to have a riotous party at his home, and by the time Joe gets to hear his elder son's increasingly desperate phone messages it's too late: the police have intervened; Artie has been rescued by his maternal grandmother; and Harry has gone back to England.
Now separated once again by thousands of miles, Harry refuses to speak on the phone to his father. But having been absent for so long of the boy's life, Joe is not prepared to accept their bond has been broken.
If he's ever to see his sons together under one roof again, he knows he must take dramatic action.