Movies - Les Boys

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	Movies - Les Boys

Les Boys is a 1996 Quebec-made comedy film. It has spawned three sequels (with Les Boys IV to be released in December 2005) and by any measure (profit, box office or attendance) is the most successful Quebec made film series of all time, and one of the most successful Canadian-made film series of all time.

Plot

The plot revolves around the players on a hockey team ("Les Boys") that plays in an a low level amateur league. They are made up of a wide variety of professions and personalities, including a police officer, a barely competent doctor, a mechanic, a goaltender who has lost his confidence, a shifty real estate salesman and a closeted gay lawyer. The team is sponsored by a pub owner, whose son desperately wants to play hockey with the older men. The film starts at the time of the league championship, at which time the team is soundly thrashed in the final.

Meanwhile, the pub owner is losing at poker to the head of the local organized crime syndicate, to the tune of $50,000. Given the opportunity to pay him back, the owner can only raise $25,000. After threatening to break his leg, the crime boss proposes another wager - a game between Les Boys and his own team. If Les Boys win, the debt is settled, but if they lose, the crime boss gets the pub.

In the week leading up to the big game, a number of sub plots emerge. Chief among them is the fact that most of the partners of the hockey players are starved for affection and intimacy, including the effeminate partner of the gay lawyer. Their primary complaint is that their men are either consumed by work or hockey to the exclusion of their relationships. Meanwhile, the doctor is attempting to get the pub's attractive waitress to notice him, but she only has eyes for the teams best player, the hunky, but married, mechanic.

When game day arrives, the waitress has waylaid the mechanic on the pretext that her car needs work. The rest of the players show up (including the goalie, who has previously vowed retirement) to find themselves faced with a team of ringers, including players they recognize from various minor leagues. Bewildered by the competition and handicapped by the lack of their best player, they quickly fall behind until the pub owner finally discloses the wager, and the mechanic shows up when he learns from his teammates that his wife is looking for him at the rink. Naturally, they overcome all obstacles and triumph, the gay lawyer is outed by his reunion with his lover, and the waitress finally sees the doctor without his cheap toupee and likes what she sees.

English Translation of Title

Translating "Les Boys" to English poses obvious difficulties as the word "Boys" is borrowed directly from English. As with most examples of English words borrowed into Quebec French, it is treated grammatically as a French noun, and given the proper masculine, plural, definite article. Literally, the title could be translated as "The 'Boys'", and this is the title used for English versions on videotape or DVD. The translation "The Garcons" is more accurate, but "Garcons" is rarely used in Canadian English, whereas "Boys" is commonly used in Quebec French, and "Boys" is a far more informal usage.

Film as part of Quebec Culture

Surprisingly, this is one of very few Quebec made feature films to deal with ice hockey, a near obsession for most men in Quebec since the beginning of the 20th century. Outsiders often underestimate the importance of hockey to Canadian culture, and particularly to Quebec culture. A film about aging immature men pursuing their sport on a serious amateur level is not a new one (see The Longest Yard, Mystery, Alaska, etc.), but it struck a responsive chord with Quebec audiences, many of whom obviously saw a piece of themselves in the characters.

Box Office Success

Les Boys cost about $3,300,000 (Cdn). to make, and took in domestic box office of over $6,000,000 (Cdn.) and another $4,000,000 (U.S.) in the United States. Given the size of the Quebec market (the film saw limited release in English Canada), a $6 million box office is the approximate equivalent of over $250 million for a domestic U.S. release. Its two sequels were also the best performing films at the Quebec box office in the years they were released.

Critical Reaction

Despite its box office success, no one claims that Les Boys is a great film masterpiece. The film is highly formulaic. The plot of a wager or task based on a gambling debt is very common in film (see Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). The farcical sexual escapades that surround the plot are also very familiar to French cinema. The relationship between the gay lawyer and his lover could have been lifted directly from La Cage aux Folles.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Les Boys ]

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