The Golden Boys (2008)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Daniel Adams

Writers:

Daniel Adams (written by)
Joseph C. Lincoln (novel)

Genre:

Romance

Tagline:

Three Salty Dogs Seek One Spicy Kitten

Plot:

A romantic comedy, set on Cape Cod in 1905, about three 70-year-old retired sea captains who try to lure an attractive middle-aged woman into marriage. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

David Carradine	...	Captain Zeb
Bruce Dern	...	Captain Perez
Rip Torn	...	Captain Jerry
Mariel Hemingway	...	Martha
Charles Durning	...	John Bartlett
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roger Dillingham Jr.	...	Townsmen
Lila Dupree	...	Pasha Norris
Jonathan Edwards	...	Reverand Perly
Donald Foley	...	Bluey Batchelder
Julie Harris	...	Melodeon Player
Peter Jordan	...	Ezekial
Lauri Kriva	...	Townsperson
Stephen Russell	...	Luther Norris
John Savage	...	Web Saunders
Christy Scott Cashman	...	Elizabeth
Jason Alan Smith	...	Ralph
Angelica Torn	...	Melissa

Also Known As:

Chatham (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and smoking.

Runtime:

USA:97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Tax Credit Finance

Trivia:

Peter Boyle was originally cast, but he died before shooting began.

Goofs:

Continuity: Contents of one letter from a respondent to newspaper ad being read at kitchen table vary in length between shots over a relatively short time.

Charming and Interesting Historical Romantic Comedy Drama

The Golden Boys is a film that is easy to miss. The cast is everyone you know but has no A-list stars. The plot of three captains now retired looking for a woman who will be marry any one of them and so become a permanent housekeeper is nothing special. Yet at the heart of this lies something rather wonderful: it is a tale about people who care more deeply for each other and the place they leave in than just for themselves.

The settings, costuming, and filming are all delightful. Set in 1905 there has been a real effort to recreate the interiors and exteriors in such a way that you smell the lavender water and the sea water.

The actor who shines in this is David Carradine - here, rather than trying to be the cool actor, he is rather the mature one, the dependable one, and as this was to become of his last films, it's kind of an odd role for him, yet one that seems more right than many of his others. Hemingway is as ever gorgeous, and here, her character is sense and sensibility at its best.

All in all, this is a wistful, good valued small film, and nicely sentimental without saccharine. If you wish you could have lived in simpler times then this is a film for you.