“The Boys Are Back” is a critically acclaimed independent drama about a father who must learn to be a single parent after his wife’s tragic death.

It is a fantastic tearjerker that explores topics of grief, abandonment, parenthood and the struggle to move on.

The main character, Joe, played by Clive Owen, is a sports writer for a big-name newspaper who must undergo the task of raising his 7-year-old son, Artie, after his wife dies of cancer.

Things get even more complicated when his teenage son Harry, from his previous marriage, comes for a visit.

The actors in this film had to portray many different and incredibly challenging emotions, which all of them pulled off very well.

Owen had to make the audience believe he was a grieving widower and a lost and worried parent who doesn’t know exactly how to raise children on his own.

George MacKay, who played troubled teen Harry, did very well portraying envy at the attention his little brother receives as well as forgiveness for the father that abandoned him.

Nicholas McAnulty, in his first-ever film, played Artie, the young boy who is experiencing death for the first time and does not fully understand.

It was McAnulty’s depiction of Artie that really stood out. How do you explain to a child the concept of grief? How do you get him to accurately show it? McAnulty really connected with the audience, giving us all a window into a child’s mind.

This was an Australian and United Kingdom collaboration film, which makes it slightly different from American films. It focuses on the central dramatic theme of Joe learning to be a father to both his sons without the help of his wife.

It introduces a possible romance but it does not follow it through. Instead it leaves it up to the audience to decide what the characters will do next.

With nearly every American film having a full love story, the American version of “The Boys Are Back” would most definitely include the romance, and then the movie would be juggling plot elements instead of focusing on the real issue.

A good portion of the film, especially the beginning, was done in short, cut scenes with very little dialogue giving just bits of information at a time. These cut scenes were interwoven with long, artsy scenes that conveyed all of the emotion of the story using only visuals and music.

This was interesting because it didn’t go into every detail of the events that transpired and it allowed the audience to make up its mind about what the whole thing was about.

This effect of short and long alternating scenes is a little disorienting at times, but it allows for some incredible cinematography in the Australian outback setting and pairs it with a brilliant score.

The score was mostly soft and slow piano and guitar dominant pieces that set the mood for the whole movie.

The music helped to make the audience distraught, relaxed, heartbroken and uplifted, all in the same piece of music.

Since it is a drama, most men would not initially pick this movie up. Its genre alone tells you that it appeals to women more than men, so most likely the only way a guy is going to see this is if a woman drags him along.

Also, the theme is not relatable to everyone. Most people have no idea what it’s like to go through the same things the characters go through, so for some people, the story may not be relevant.

It’s obvious why critics and audiences the world over have raved about this film. It reaches people on a very emotional level and really makes the audience feel something.

This film is a jewel among independent films and I would recommend it to anyone.