Good Boys
Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 16, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
14
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
85
IGNLaura PrudomAug 12, 2019
Good Boys somehow manages to balance its risqué, scatological impulses with a surprisingly sweet, resonant coming-of-age tale. Read full review
83
ConsequenceDan CaffreyMar 16, 2019
Even if the rapid-fire pace of the jokes keeps a tiny handful of them from landing, the film gets bonus points for not being afraid to get emotional. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshAug 14, 2019
Stupnitsky and Eisenberg have deftly mined this space for laughs, and the seasoned comedy vets (“The Office,” “Year One,” “Bad Teacher”) deliver a joke-dense and highly original coming-of-age tale that’s sweet and sour in all the best ways. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushMatt SingerAug 14, 2019
What a pleasant surprise that the movie is far funnier and more perceptive about this brutal, hilarious time in a child’s life than I anticipated. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawAug 14, 2019
Some massive laughs, a huge Stephen Merchant cameo and the most impressive school play on film since Wes Anderson’s Rushmore are all on offer in this very funny teen – or rather tween – comedy. Read full review
75
Paste MagazineOktay Ege Kozak Aug 20, 2019
Good Boys manages to find that happy medium between outrageous and heartstring-pulling. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 17, 2019
The film gets frequent laughs from its raunchiness but, underneath it all, there’s an emotionally resonant story of how children confront the demons of youth that guard the gates to adolescence. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 15, 2019
Yes, it’s a raunchy, edgy, hard-R comedy about a trio of 12-year-old boys who drop the f-bomb every other sentence and get involved in all sorts of predicaments featuring sex toys and beer and molly — but even the most hardcore jokes have a good-natured and even sweet larger context. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireAug 15, 2019
While the premise eventually grows thin and the jokes turn repetitive by the third act, the chemistry between the movie’s three stars is both lively and substantial enough to keep the antics enjoyable. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartAug 15, 2019
This is a raunch-com that goes for — and gets — stunned laughs. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeMarella GaylaAug 15, 2019
A charming study of masculinity and friendship, the movie makes the case that “goodness” is a measure of how boys perceive themselves in relation to others. It may be another addition to the “adolescent party odyssey” line — think “Superbad” (2007) and “Booksmart” (2019) — but Good Boys yields something fresh. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJake CoyleAug 15, 2019
Good Boys mines that gulf between childhood and adolescence like few films have before. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnMar 13, 2019
While the pace is spotty and not every joke lands, “Good Boys” manages to be adorable and twisted at the same time. Read full review
70
VoxAlissa WilkinsonAug 20, 2019
One of Good Boys’ smartest insights into that period of life is that everyone is developing into their teenaged selves, but at very different speeds. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneAug 17, 2019
Good Boys is worth catching for those rare and wrenching points at which emotional honesty breaks through. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriAug 16, 2019
Some might want to leave the theater and file a lawsuit. I stayed and laughed. It’s funny because it’s abominable. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekAug 15, 2019
Mostly, with the exception of a tiresome, protracted gag involving a parental stash of sex toys, it’s more funny and charming than it is raunchy. If these boys are the men of the future, their parents have done something right. Read full review
70
TheWrapMonica CastilloMar 14, 2019
Good Boys is a snappy comedy that pokes fun at those painful pubescent years and, by the credits, grows up into a somewhat mature comedy about friendship. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 19, 2019
In the end, it’s their fundamental goodness — not all the wicked, winky “bad” — that’s easily the best thing about Boys. Read full review
67
Original-CinThom ErnstAug 15, 2019
Good Boys might pride itself for its lack of restraint, but the film’s guileless good nature that it charm Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Aug 14, 2019
Yet as with "Booksmart," the summer’s earlier riff on that Apatovian classic, there are times when Good Boys feels a little too nice to actually be uproarious. In more ways than one, it’s the training wheels for a better comedy — a slightly edgier and funnier one. Read full review
67
The PlaylistRyan OliverMar 13, 2019
It is a little peculiar as to who the audience for “Good Boys” is exactly. It’s too vulgar for kids who are the age of the film’s characters, and while an adult audience will likely find much to admire and potentially even teach their kids, some of the film’s more sophomoric elements could get a little grating. Read full review
65
The AtlanticDavid SimsAug 12, 2019
Had the film not taken an introspective turn, I still would have appreciated its skill with generating easy laughs. Happily, Good Boys has a little more to recommend it than gross gags. Read full review
63
ObserverOliver JonesAug 15, 2019
Like that dash across the freeway, the dirty jokes, bad language and bursts of violence end up being something that we have to grit our teeth to endure to get a glimpse of the inner lives of these boys, which are far richer than we typically see from a Hollywood comedy. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzAug 15, 2019
The few parts of director Gene Stupnitsky’s film that feel new, then, don’t feel that new at all, from the ultra-shaggy plot to the gross-out gags that misunderstand the power that repetition might hold. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 14, 2019
Hits all the expected marks for raunch and vulgarity, with the bonus that it is actually also kind of sweet. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 14, 2019
Director Stupnitsky lacks finesse and an eye for framing at this stage of his directorial career. He is, however, well-attuned to catching moments on the fly. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredLuke ParkerAug 20, 2019
Good Boys successfully exploits a newfound ground between crudeness and innocence, but nearly runs it dry. Read full review
60
Film ThreatAlex SavelievAug 17, 2019
For all its claims to be rebellious, Good Boys is surprisingly tame by today’s standards. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithAug 16, 2019
A well-cast coming-of-age story with a potty mouth, Good Boys certainly has its moments, but is overall pretty small fry, too reliant on recycling the same joke. Read full review
60
EmpireBen TravisAug 15, 2019
Its kids-say-the-funniest-things gags become one-note, but Good Boys has consistent laughs, winning performances, and a dollop of sweetness to boot. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicGarrett MitchellAug 15, 2019
Treading the same raunchy path as "Neighbors" and "Superbad," the contrast of child actors uttering obscenities and utilizing sex toys as weapons is a comical mix of one outrageous mess after another. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 9, 2019
Generation "Home Alone", now grown up and maybe with children of its own, will be amused in the moment, but the film’s heart isn’t as subversive as it wants us to believe. Read full review
60
The GuardianKristy PuchkoMar 13, 2019
There’s just one problem. It’s mostly the same jokes over and over: cute kids cursing and not understanding sex stuff. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 16, 2019
A wildly uneven one-joke farce, sometimes amusing in that “Oh no they DIDN’T,” way, dispiriting in many others, it’s one of those “If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the laughs” late-summer arrivals. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiAug 14, 2019
While Good Boys has some interesting moments of reflection, make no mistake that this is a film about fart jokes and having 12-year-olds say “f**k” a lot. Read full review
50
Slant MagazinePat BrownAug 14, 2019
Gene Stupnitsky’s Good Boys is Big Mouth for those who prefer ribald humor about tweenage sexuality in live action, though it lacks the Netflix show’s frankness and authenticity. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 13, 2019
Good Boys rides highest on the teamwork of its three young stars. Read full review
42
The Film StageJohn FinkMar 13, 2019
Despite some endearing passages, Gene Stupnitsky’s uninspired crude tween comedy Good Boys is a cringe-inducing affair. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansAug 19, 2019
It’s not unfunny, but one joke can’t sustain the entire movie. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyAug 15, 2019
Weakly acted mainly because it’s weakly conceived, Good Boys doesn’t have a sincere bone in its body – or even enough funny boner jokes to compensate. Read full review
30
VarietyDennis HarveyMar 13, 2019
A little too imitative of “Superbad” ... Good Boys lacks that film’s wit and heart. It’s a lively, slick package, yet crude and obvious at every turn. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 13, 2019
A nearly one-note comedy. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 14, 2019
The big problem of Good Boys is not that it’s harsh or nasty or outrageous or tasteless or shocking or appalling. The problem is that it’s none of those things, when it should have been all of those things. It’s safe and sentimental, with just a few mild laughs. Read full review
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