The History Boys

An unruly collection of clever but crass Thatcher-era English high-school students seek to earn the scores needed to enroll in Oxford and Cambridge in director Nicholas Hytner and screenwriter Alan Bennett's screen adaptation of Bennett's Tony-winning play. The History Boys focuses on a group of ...more

The History Boys was shot over five weeks after the close of the original West End run of the play, and while there is stray evidence of its hurried creation and theatrical origins, the appeal that led to its success is largely preserved. In listing the film's assets, one should probably start with Alan Bennett's script, a treatise on education and character as fate that incorporates ample humor, repressed sexuality, boy-falsetto renditions of early 20th century pop standards, and French brothel ...more