The History Boys ***

“History: just one f**king thing after another”

The best quote from The History Boys by Alan Bennett.

Another of the films I failed to watch in the cinema but caught up with on DVD.

I think I must be the only person who is missing the point with The History Boys. The play at the National Theatre was hyped beyond measure and I got all excited and went to see it in the original run.

I sat on one of the seats in the first four rows for a tenner. The play was OK. It was quite entertaining, the script was quite funny, the performances were excellent — in particular Frances de la Tour who has nailed every part I’ve seen her in, and I liked the guy who found God and played the piano – and the soundtrack was a storming selection of 80s classics.

But I was bored. It was all a bit ponderous. I thought perhaps it was the lack of armrests, narrow chairs and no leg room that was making me irritable and distracted. Especially since everyone loved it. And it went on to win countless UK awards, transfer to Broadway and get even more awards over there.

So I was quite excited about the film and the potential that I would find what I previously missed. This time I was very comfortable — stretched out on the bed among a pile of duvets and pillows and a nice big screen in front of me.

But no! I was bored. Even more so that at the theatre. There, the dialogue was fresh and natural between the group of boys studying history to get into Oxford/Cambridge, inventive, filthy and fun.

I think by the time the cast were filmed by Nicholas Hytner (director of play and film), they had said the words so many times that it was a bit dead. It felt theatrical and contrived, and you could see the actors trying really hard to express a sense of fun and boyish unruliness, which of course undermines it. The script was quite funny as it was on stage, but still very ponderous. And I just can’t locate the magic in the relationship between Richard Griffith’s character and the boys.

I have to confess that I turned the thing off half way through.

By no means is it diabolical. It is perfectly fine. Maybe its a victim of its own achievements — if there wasn’t such a high expectation, then perhaps I could enjoy it for what it is: a moderately engaging film.

But still I am plagued by the sense that I am missing something and the film has done nothing to help solve this.

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