Worried About the Boy

2010 "Man to Boy, Boy to Icon"
7| 1h30m| en| More Info
Released: 16 May 2010 Released
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Synopsis

In 1980 young George O'Dowd baffles his parents with his love of frocks and make-up and moves into a squat with kindred spirit Peter, who dresses as Marilyn Monroe and calls himself Marilyn. They make a splash at Steve Strange's trendy Blitz Club where George gets a job in the cloakroom but George is unlucky in his relationships with men until he meets wannabe musician Kirk. Through Kirk George meets the handsome drummer Jon Moss, on whom he develops a crush, but sacked by the Blitz and spurned by Kirk, George turns to Sex Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren to further his music career. George's spell with McLaren's group Bow Wow Wow is short but fan Mikey North is impressed and asks George to sing in a group he is forming, where George again meets Jon. They will have an affair and the group will become the very successful Culture Club. Four years later, however, hounded by the tabloid press amid stories of his drug addiction, an unhappy George turns to Jon for advice on his future.

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Reviews

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Red-Barracuda Boy George can certainly be described as an 80's icon. I distinctly remember as a youngster first seeing his band Culture Club perform 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' on some kids TV show some time in the early 80's and then seeing him interviewed immediately afterwards and being utterly amazed he was not a she. I seem to recall fellow school-mates being somewhat flabbergasted about this the following day too. These were less enlightened times as far as homosexuality was concerned, so I guess Boy George was even more of a cultural happening taking that into account. Despite his image, part of the reason Culture Club became so massively popular was that George himself was never promoted as threatening sexually, while the band's music was very contemporary new wave pop with little edge. But like most things that connect so fully with mainstream culture, the fame and success only lasted a fairly short while.This TV biopic is unusual in that it hardly focuses on the Culture Club years at all. Instead, it covers George's pre-fame and post-peak tabloid celebrity years. In doing this, it sort of misses out the most dramatic section of the story and looks at what led George there and how it affected him negatively afterwards. This approach means that you have to accept what the film is not, although it definitely makes the story more small-scale and lower key. The early years are typified by the fashion scene that revolved around the Blitz Club which was populated by the New Romantics; while the later scenes happen in the midst of George being hounded by the press over his reported heroin addiction. The film flashes forward and back to these two periods to tell the story. And in some respects it's quite a limited story in all honesty. The early years were typified, after all, by George not really doing a lot and gaining minor celebrity for merely wearing the right clothes. One of the more notable events happens when he briefly hooks up with Malcolm McLaren – very well played by Mark Gatiss – and is photographed with his then pop pets Bow Wow Wow but little came of this, so it's just a colourful detail.Mainly the film works as a time capsule movie, where we are transported back to the early 80's. Several characters from the New Romantic scene appear, such as Steve Strange, Marilyn and Kirk Brandon; the latter of which had a sexual affair with the singer. The costuming and soundtrack have been chosen well and despite the low budget, it's convincingly of its time. The main acting duties are covered by newcomer Douglas Booth, who is decidedly more androgynous than the real Boy George. He puts in a pretty good performance, especially when you consider he was only 17 years old at the time. On the whole, this is a film that should appeal to those who like biopics about popular music figures. It might not be the most dramatic story but it is well told for what it is.
Armand it is a really good film for the science to not be only illustration of a period and image of a star. it is interesting, captivating, seductive. because it presents spirit of a time not only portrait of an artist. but key of this smart construction is the extraordinary art of Douglas Booth to sustain a heavy and complex character. he is the key. and the star in this story about ambition, identity and basic foundation of success. it is a sensitive/delicate work. and this fact is essential in the competition against many other biographic movies. it is not a film for fans and not at all introduction in 1980 years. it is, in fact, a demonstration of courage and inspiration. and admirable circle from different small pieces who can be parts of testimony about an unique form of liberty.
stoogio-730-343418 The above quote from George about what the result is 'when straight men write about poofs'... true! It is camped up to the nines which was a bit unnecessary I thought. Douglas Booth is very pretty - great lips - and I thought he did well for a 17 year old & with a questionable script. The Marilyn portrayal was a bit dodgy, nowhere near similar in looks & far too nicey nicey but the Malcolm McClaren was very believable. Soundtrack great - make-up great. I definitely think they should have gone the whole hog & made the programme longer - the ending was just an odd place to stop, covering nothing of Culture Club's reign... a vision of a smacked up George circa '86 with little insight as to why; the antics on their world tours were worthy of inclusion if you ask me. Great just to stick on for a bit of background telly but do read 'Take it like a Man' if you haven't already.
grohlbabe Just watched "Worried about the boy" based on Boy Georges' rise to fame,,,,,, Well,, talk about nostalgia brought it all back to me,,, i,e being different dressing to excess and not giving a fu**,( however during these times I did have a job and did not rob out of coat pockets..lol,,,What struck me about the movie was it seemed soo accurate in the music,,, the times,, clothes,, and the people on the scene,,,...Having not been to the Blitz club and admiring the movement from a distance I really enjoyed the pointing out of who was there,, ie Spandau,, Idol etc etc,, OOOh again I wished I had gone there,,, Enjoyed the kirk Brandon story,, Wow didn't know that happened umm, remember seeing him in Spear of Destiny ( wot a hunk) and just assuming he was a total straight man,,, well u never know apparently,,,, In a later court case about 1999 Brandon sought to prove George a liar over his autobiagrophical claims that they were lovers , the Judge ruled George to be telling the truth,,,, Brandon bankcrupt and now married vied he would continue to prove there was no truth to the story,,, well one only has to look on gooogle images for photos of the two together ( make up your own minds),,Hey back to the film,, Douglas Booth (George) plays a great part despite being only 17, (wow) at times made me look twice at the screen his portrayal ( whilst in full make up) was uncanny, no wonder Boy upon visiting the set was said to be pleased with how the production was going ,, hey wouldn't you want a young established model, lovely boy portraying you??,, Great performances from Matt Horne ( Jon Moss) and Marc Warren ( Steve Strange) But for me the "steal the show" performances in equal measures go to Mark Gatiss ( Malcolm Mclaren) and Freddy Fox ( Marilyn) too many good lines to quote here,, although malcoms " Im being sent a new house,,, but bit by bit" was good,,,,Whether your a fan of " The Boy" or not if u were in your prime in the 80s dressing to excess and having lots of fun this film is for you,,, if not still give it a go as the music, colour,, ambiance and music makes it a ( in Cillas words) A " Lorra Lorra Fun"