Radcliffe brings Potter power to "December Boys"

By Kirk Honeycutt

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "December Boys" bathes in the summer sun and sea breezes even as it exudes the energy of youth and promise.

It is set in an affable seaside community in South Australia in the 1960s, in a few homey shacks built within a cove. There is a flavour of nostalgia here, too, as old rock tunes waft through the air. The film's dramatic moments are small but exquisitely rendered so that you feel the emotions experienced so many years ago. The film lingers afterward in your mind like a favourite vacation that triggered moments of sheer intensity.

Based on the Australian coming-of-age novel by Michael Noonan and featuring Daniel Radcliffe in his first major role apart from the Harry Potter character, "December Boys" is a modest though poignant film that touches on timeless themes of love, friendship and family. Radcliffe is the film's calling card; otherwise, it would be difficult for Warner Independent Pictures to create awareness of such a small-scale film. Likewise, Village Roadshow, which handles international sales, must hope that Radcliffe will lead audiences to this satisfying movie experience.

The story, which Marc Rosenberg adapted from Noonan's novel, revolves around four orphan boys born in December who have grown up in a Catholic convent in the Outback. All have reached or are reaching an age when the prospects of adoption are increasingly slim. A Christmas outing to the seaside gives them a welcome respite from school.

The narrator actually is the youngest boy, Misty (Lee Cormie, quite good), who is quiet, neat, mature and determined to get adapted. The eldest boy, Maps (Radcliffe), is closing in on 17 and not even certain at that age whether he even wants to be adopted.

Spark (Christian Byers) has a taste for the forbidden. This includes cigarettes and lingerie ads. Aside from the disgusting social habit that gives him his nickname, Spit (James Fraser) loves challenges and feels he is up to each and every one.

The boys stay in a house with an aging couple, Bandy McAnsh (veteran Aussie star Jack Thompson), a retired naval officer who salts his language with nautical terms, and his wife (Kris McQuade), who have a secret motive for inviting the lads to join them.

The boys meet a circus performer and his French wife. Since they can't have children, they seem the perfect couple to adopt. A competition breaks out among the three youngest boys, which puts friendships to a test. Meanwhile, Maps becomes utterly infatuated with a local blonde named Lucy (Teresa Palmer), who both enjoys and encourages his romantic interest.