I proudly join the North American Man Boy Love Association in giving (:)(:)(:)(:) out of a possible five snouts up for The History Boys, a film version of a successful British play.
The film, set in 1983 (with the soundtrack to prove it) focusses on an uncommonly bright and gorgeous group of working class boys who have aced their A levels and are madly prepping for their essay/interviews for top universities. Their odd brilliant teachers, who look as if they’d be more at home at the Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, work hard to teach the boys what they’ll need to know to gain acceptance at Oxbridge.
The film is well-written, sweetly acted and entirely believable. If you’re in the mood for a sweet and disarmingly homoerotic look at pedophilia, poetry and prose, Bob’s your uncle (or, more accurately, Bob’s your 12th grade history teacher), The History Boys is just the thing, innit?
Let’s face it, NAMBLA would give it five snouts.