esboella I give this film an Alan Partridge-esque "a mixed bag" rating. Some of it is good some of it not so much. I don't normally watch films but I saw it was an Alan Bennett film (or at least based on his play) and I knew he was some sort of renown playwright so I was expecting something a step up from a McDonalds burger and that's what I got. The downside for me was all the homosexual stuff, if I wanted a film about that I'd watch gay porn, unnecessary I though. The interesting stuff was coaching the boys to take a step up the rotten class system, and some alternative views on history which I can see has upset some here who get their history lessons from Saving Ryan's Privates, but that's good I guess, thought provoking! I had to keep switching over to see if Jake Bugg was on iTunes 2013 yet so I missed bits and pieces. It is perhaps relevant to the extend that the chances of someone like Bugg every going to Oxford lies somewhere between zero and minus infinity!!The film gropes at pupil teacher sex (albeit homosexual)and the consequences which I suppose has some merit. I would not say it was captivating but I would watch it again to see the bits I missed. Obviously with it being a play it is mainly dialogue and it has a fair bit of humour in it, particularly teacher v class banter. Can't really say I felt much empathy with the characters though.It was interesting that the guy with no academic ability got selected because his father once worked at the Oxford, stuck a chord with me as I remember being interviewed at Bristol Uni and being told I was one of the few people who got a particular question on electronics (my course) right. Interesting in that they still rejected me!! Bastards!! I noticed all the other candidate were far posher than me too, I guess I lost points for unbuttoning my collar on a boiling hot day. The other candidates looked like stuck up snooty bank clerks, they were no doubt all given offers despite being unable to answer a question which required some real intelligence rather than coaching. I received no coaching from my 'could not care less' comprehensive obviously.So the unfairness of the whole process is quite interesting, the double standards, the real world aspect. Yea so it is pretty clever overall and pretty honest, you see the stuff which is usually swept under the carpet.I initially gave it a 7 but realised it deserved more hence I gave 8 but finally 10 because it is worth watching and ultimately there are only two film categories total crap or worth watching and it is the latter. Let's face it who watches 7/10ths of a film? First film I have watched in years, I am not a film person really so surprised I am writing a review!!I had expected it to be like the Dead Poets Society but the is no literary romance here (just some gay romance) and there is no great acting except in the sense of making ordinary pupils and staff look ordinary. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters, they are not from my working class world, they share non of my values, they are all human shells with nothing of value inside, they are not from my planet.So there it is, my first and maybe my last film review so be gentle with me.As I started off giving what would be Alan Partridge's opinion of the film, I feel for the purpose of balance, it is only fair to give what would be the opinion of his alter ego Paul Calf, which would of course be, "a bag of shite".Interesting perhaps how both Alan and Paul use the 'bag' analogy, neither being tainted by the overly verbose and flowery language used by those with nothing of value to say.I have no doubt Paul would be heading for the nearest bar within ten minutes, and who could blame him?

mrchanggrand This is a very touching and very funny little film. I am surprised more people have not seen it and do not know about it. When I saw it I wasn't sure what to expect, I had heard a lot about the play but have never seen it myself (haven't ever had a chance as so far as I know it has not ever been on here). My expectations were pretty low because even though I heard great things about the play usually plays put on the big screen (except some exceptions and usually they are musicals) they are not nearly as good. But this was a great movie, the actors are all fantastic so whoever did the casting did a great job. It is funny and very real (seems like a real school class would be back then with some excellent moments of real life humor), and like I said also touching at many instances in a very human way. Don't want to give anything away but this movie is well worth watching I can't see very many people not liking it.

richieandsam THE HISTORY BOYSThe movie is about a class of students who get taught by a couple of eccentric teachers as they are all trying to get accepted into Oxford University.This film is not riveting or full of thrills... but it is amusing. There were some good comedy moments in the movie that made me laugh, there are also some outrageous moments too.There were a couple of scenes of teachers attempting to abuse the students, and the students just brushed it off as if it was nothing because they liked the teacher and just expected it from him. They even played on it and allowed him to try. It was way too weird and wrong. The scary thing is, this happens in real life and most of the time we don't even know it.The thing that I loved about this movie was the casting... it was amazing. Every single one of these actors and actresses in this movie was awesome. I would say that the acting in this movie was so believable that it is the best acting I have seen in a very long time. The chemistry everyone had on screen was so convincing. The film starred a lot of people, but I believe they all deserve a mention.Richard Griffiths – Hector Clive Merrison – Felix, the Headmaster Frances de la Tour – Mrs. Lintott Stephen Campbell Moore – Irwin Samuel Anderson – Chris Crowther Samuel Barnett – David Posner Dominic Cooper – Stuart Dakin James Corden – Richard Timms Sacha Dhawan – Adi Akthar Andrew Knott – James Lockwood Russell Tovey – Peter Rudge Jamie Parker – Donald Scripps Georgia Taylor – Fiona Penelope Wilton – Mrs. Bibby Adrian Scarborough – WilkesIt is weird to think that a lot of these people went on to do comedy... especially James Corden. I saw Lesbian Vampire Killers and he did not act to greatly in that. But he proved in this film that he can act. And then you have the late Richard Griffiths... he played this part excellently. He was a good actor and is greatly missed.I will give this film 6 out of 10.I enjoyed it but the acting is the main thing that stood out for me.For more of my reviews, please like my Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl

ehzimmerman For all the praise this film/play deserved, I think its portrayal of the sexual molestation of students by their beloved and influential teacher as a harmless coming-of-age experience is irresponsible and wrong. There are far too many well-documented true stories of students who were molested by their teachers and caused incalculable psychological harm. Horace Mann in New York is one recently well-publicized example of a school where molestations traumatized numerous students. There are countless instances where molestation by teachers have clearly contributed to students' subsequent self-prostitution, mental illness or suicide. While "History Boys" offers and bold and perhaps realistic depiction of homophilic or homo-social affection in an all-boys school -- which is a service to telling the truth about human nature -- I think this film/play ultimately does disservice to the just cause of GLBT civil rights, by contributing to a muddying or blurring of the hard-won (if won) distinction between ordinary average typical gay men versus they atypical ephebophilic sexual molester who abuses a position of power and authority over impressionable adolescents. (Read the book "Sacrilege" by Leon Podles if you want a full explanation of how this type of abuse proliferated to epidemic proportions in the Roman Catholic church). Seeing "History Boys" angered me because abuse was made light of by not showing any negative impacts of molestation, which would leave viewers with the impression that teacher-student molestation is OK or even beneficial in some way.