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Released by: Well Go USA
Released on: June 29th, 2021.
Director: Eoin Macken
Cast: Dean-Charles Chapman, Finn Cole, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Travis Fimmel
Year: 2020
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Here Are The Young Men - Movie Review:
Based on the novel of the same name by Rob Doyle, Here Are The Young Men opens with a scene in Dublin, 2003, where a trio of friends - Matthew Connolly (Dean-Charles Chapman), Rez (Ferdia Waslh-Peelo) and Joseph Kearney (Finn Cole) - just out of high school decide to break into their old school, vandalize the place and trash a teacher's car.
It's the start of what turns out to be pretty much a full on, nihilistic bender as without school to distract them, they don't really know what to do with their lives. As such, they fall into substance abuse problems as their behavior becomes increasingly self-destructive. Their behavior ties into some shared trauma and causes them to reevaluate their relationships to those around them and to one another, particularly when it comes to Matthew and Joseph, the latter of whom is pretty much insane. Matthews girlfriend, Jen (Anya Taylor-Joy), does her best to get through to him and tries to act as a voice of reason to these troubled young men,
Tonally this one is all over the place, though you get the impression that was intention on the part of director Eoin Macken. A hallucinated subplot involving a bizarre game show is presumably there to give us some insight into the mental state of the lead characters but it seems unnecessary and more than a little out of place. The film is also a bit predictable, we've seen this type of thing before (there are shades of A Clockwork Orange evident in a scene where a homeless man is assaulted) and done better than it is here.
Still, Here Are The Young Men has merit. On a technical level the movie flows well and it is nicely edited. The cinematography makes great use of the film's often times wild color scheme and there are some nice compositions on display in the film. More importantly, the acting here is very strong from pretty much every one of the principal players. Not surprisingly, Anya Taylor-Joy is the best of the bunch, her work as Jen is as believable as it is just plain solid. She has good chemistry with Dean-Charles Chapman, who in turn works very well alongside Ferdia Waslh-Peelo and Finn Cole. Cole in particular plays the increasingly unhinged Kearney very effectively.
Had there been a bit more consistency in tone and a bit more originality in delivery, Here Are The Young Men would have probably been an excellent film. As it stands, it is not, but it is still decent enough that it's worth a watch for those who find stories of troubled youth gone wild interesting.
Here Are The Young Men - Blu-ray Review:
Here Are The Young Men arrives on Blu-ray framed at 2.40.1 widescreen in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer taking up 20.1GBs of space on the 25GB disc. Image quality is pretty solid here, and the transfer shows good color reproduction. Detail is solid throughout, however, and the image is crisp and clear and there aren't any major compression artifacts to note, nor is there any noise reduction or edge enhancement. As this was shot on digital video, obviously there's no print damage either.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is a good one and the quality of the audio on the disc is pretty solid. The score is used well and it fills the room nicely. Directional effects are well placed and the levels are nicely balanced throughout the movie. No problems with hiss or distortion to note and the dialogue stays clean, clear and easy to follow. An optional English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is included and removable English subtitles are also provided.
Extras are limited to a trailer for the feature, trailers for a few other Well Go USA properties, trailers and chapter selection. This release comes packaged with a slipcover.
Here Are The Young Men - The Final Word:
Here Are The Young Men is a decent enough drama made better by some pretty strong acting. Well Go USA's Blu-ray is light on extras to be sure, but the presentation quality is strong. Anya Taylor-Joy's fanbase will appreciate this one.
Click on the images below for full sized Here Are The Young Men Blu-ray screen caps!
