After serving a gaol sentence for assault, Brett Sprague (David Wenham) returns home to his mother Sandra (Lynette Curran), brothers Glenn and Stevie (John Polson and Anthony Hayes) and his girlfriend Michelle (Toni Collette). They're in Sydney but below the poverty line, and Brett's explosive temper won't help that. Over this one day which Brett drinks his way through, he cunningly regains his status as man of the house one altercation at a time. This power struggle gradually unites the Sprague boys united in fury at their mother and girlfriends, culminating in their decision to hit the town that night and commit a despicable crime, the aftermath of which is revealed via flashforwards.
Based on Gordon Graham's play, which used the infamous 1986 murder of Sydney nurse and beauty pageant winner Anita Cobby as its main influence, this Aussie crime drama won four 1998 AFI Awards, including one for director Rowan Woods. It's very much a slow burn; until about the last 30 minutes all the action is dialogue-driven. But despite the sometimes excessive exposition, The Boys does convey a sense of confident, intimate suspense to the end. Stephen Sewell's script gives each character suitable and realistic dialogue while it lucidly shifts the focus back and forth between the present and the future, and experimental jazz trio the Necks offer an ominous but subtle score. But the real meat in this sandwich is surely the acting. All the performances are solid, but Wenham and especially Curran (both reprising their roles from the stage production) are absolutely ferocious in their roles.
If you like non-stop action in your crime dramas, look elsewhere. But if you're after one that offers a patient look into the events and acts that cause criminal ones, and then blows the lid off the pot, The Boys delivers.
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