From the director of Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould and with a cast including Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates and Eddie Izzard, Boychoir should by rights be OK. But its tale of an angry young boy who makes it into an all-singing prep school and promises to fulfil the surly choirmaster’s dream of singing in New York is so second-hand, it’s almost worn through. Thanks to pieces by Fauré, Bach, Handel and Mendelssohn, there’s at least some uplifting choral music to listen to.
Boychoir | Directed by François Girard (USA 2014) with Garrett Wareing, Dustin Hoffman. Starts August 27
Originally published in issue #141, September 2015.