December Boys (2007) [PG-13]

Directed by: Rod Hardy (various episodes of various shit TV shows)
Starring: Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe, among others

Log line: Four boys raised in a Catholic orphanage are granted a holiday together, some trying to earn the right to be the one adopted by their hosting family.

Synopsis: Four orphaned boys, all born in December, are given the privilege of a holiday from their Catholic orphanage. One decides emphatically over the others to win the hearts of this family to become adopted by them. Situations ensue (of course), and in the end, "family" is what it is....

Mini Review: First off, I think Radcliffe was miscast in this piece. The poor kid -- well, young adult now -- is unfortunately typecast at this point I think; and beyond that, I think he was too old for this part. Having been adopted myself (tho as an infant), I was interested in seeing this. These boys enjoy their Australian vacation on the beach, and at times fight over who'll be The One adopted. But at times I had no idea what was going on -- WTF did the horse symbolize? Who are these characters?? A 90-minute movie with hardly any character development?? But, the scenery at least was beautiful...

Okay, so I basically think this was a stinker. But at the same time near the end my eyes leaked a little bit just the same. Yet after i thought it should've ended, it didn't...

Grading: I had my high-hopes, but I think Hardy failed miserably. A "B" TV director doing a feature film?? Literally: within the first few minutes I thought to myself, "wow, the first full-length short film ever made"! The story had SO much potential, and with one of the biggest teen stars of this decade, it still failed. And on many levels. I was disappointed, but, didn't absolutely hate it I guess... just very disappointed.

IMDB: 6.9
Netflix: 7.6
JGeoff: 4.5/10