Boy A
is a 2007 BAFTA award-winning film adaptation of Jonathan Trigell's critically acclaimed novel
of the same name which shares some similarities with the notorious James Patrick Bulger case. The film premièred at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival. It is directed by John Crowley and stars Andrew Garfield (who won the 2008 Best Actor BAFTA TV Award for his performance), Peter Mullan and Katie Lyons. The USA cinematic release is distributed by the Weinstein Company. It is a story of a young ex-con Jack, newly released from serving a prison sentence for a murder he committed as a child.Bright futures are undercut by dark pasts in Boy A
, a quiet, ruminative tale about a violent act committed by a man in his tormented youth, and his haunting inability to find a way to have a peaceful adulthood years later. Fresh out of a 14-year prison sentence, 24-year-old Jack (Andrew Garfield) arrives in Manchester looking for a new start. He has a new name, a new job, and a carefully sealed criminal record, but an entire boyhood spent behind bars has left him permanently looking over his shoulder. Guided by his fatherly caseworker, Terry (Peter Mullan), Jack attempts to forge meaningful ties with a local girl and a chatty co-worker, but what happiness he finds is challenged when his true identity seeps (and then floods) through the cracks of his new façade. Directed with claustrophobic flair by John Crowley, Boy A unfolds in tight hallways and on narrow roads; for Jack, even in freedom, every room's a prison. As the story of Jack's new life moves forward, sharply lit flashbacks continually offer new details of his childhood crime. The backward glances work as both a compelling narrative technique and a glimpse into Jack's conscience (and the viewer's); the harsh reminder of his former self seem to play endlessly in his mind, impossible to reconcile with the gentle, introspective adult he longs to become.Efficiently directed by John Crowley, Boy A
avoids exploitation while never soft-selling its thorny subject matter. The movie is taut with suspense but culminates in wise resignation as the hero comes to understand he's running from a part of himself. Boy A is one of those rare movies that takes the idea of rehabilitation seriously. In the end, it may present a worst-case scenario, but it does so with unusual depth and conviction. Boy A currently holds a 91% approval rating based on 53 professional critical reviews on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
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