BOY A

Director: John Crowley
Stars: Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Katie Lyons, Alfie Owen, Taylor Doherty, Shaun Evans
Year: 2007
Rating: R

I wish I had seen this film a few days earlier; using the phrase "one of the best films I've seen this year" just doesn't resonate as well when it's only the second film you've seen for the year. But even had I seen it in 2009, the praise would have been the same: thanks largely to a terrific, understated, emotionally-involving (and Oscar-level) performance by lead Andrew Garfield, Boy A would still have been one of my favorite films of the year, in any year.

Garfield stars as Jack Burridge, a young British man in his early twenties who has just been released from prison for a terrible crime he committed as a child. Incarcerated for over a decade, Jack - whose real name is Eric Wilson - is finally being released back into the real world again, with the help and guidance of his mentor Terry (Peter Mullan), an older man who helps young people with their struggles of acclimating back into society. From the film's opening, it's obvious that Terry is Jack's only friend, the one person Jack trusts in the world ... in a world where Eric Wilson has had to become Jack Burridge in order to survive, as there are those out in the real world who can never forget the crime Eric Wilson committed - and would seek to cause him great harm, should Jack's real identity ever be revealed.

As the film opens, Terry (the only person who knows Jack's real name, or history) sets Jack up with a place to live (a room for rent in the home of a female friend), a job (loading and unloading trucks for a delivery service), and a back-story that admits Jack's having been in prison ... but for stealing a car and taking it on a joyride. From the beginning, Terry grimly reminds Jack that, no matter what, he can never tell anyone his real name or history; that to do so would put him in real jeopardy, and destroy all they've worked to do. Jack, a shy and very sensitive young man, agrees.

And for awhile, things go well for Jack; he makes friends with a couple of guys at work, the three of them often hanging out together, and even both wants and gets the attention of a pretty, very outgoing girl who works in the office, named Michelle (Katie Lyons). Even with the intrusive thoughts and memories (the film slowly reveals, via flashback, the events leading young Eric - played convincingly by Alfie Owen - to the tragic crime) of starting his new life when the old one still so permeates his existence, Jack slowly begins to gain confidence and strength ... particularly as he finds himself falling in love with Michelle, and feels the same vibe coming from her. Even an incident that involves Jack and his co-worker Chris (Shaun Evans) becoming heroes, when the two spot a car that's been in an accident and Jack saves the life of a little girl, only further proves to Jack that his old life is behind him; that he's a good guy worthy of a second chance.

It is, in fact, his relationship with Michelle that starts some trouble; having fallen in love, Jack wants desperately to tell her the truth about his past. Terry, who has his own issues (thanks to the estranged son who has shown up on his doorstep, homeless and broke), forbids and then begs Jack to say nothing - telling him that no matter how okay he thinks it might be, he cannot tell anyone about his past - and Jack oh-so-reluctantly agrees ... but soon a series of innocent incidences bring the past back home to Jack anyway, his very survival threatened by a society that may simply not be able to forgive, let alone forget.

The emotional core of this film rests on Andrew Garfield, and his creation of a character in Jack that is so likable, so real, and so seemingly deserving of forgiveness and this new life he's made for himself, the film will have viewers themselves questioning their own reactions; how could you not like and root for Jack Burridge ... and yet, could you ever really forgive the horrible crime he committed as Eric Wilson, just a dozen years or so before? The film is thought-provoking and emotionally involving on that issue alone, beautifully shot with cinematography and scene set-ups that perfectly set the mood and tone ...

But in the end, it's the performances of the cast - and, in particular, the brilliance of Andrew Garfield's touching rendition of Jack - that make this film a favorite. Named "Boy A" during his trial, with his real name of Eric Wilson finally released as he's let out of prison (complete with computer-enhanced renderings of what the young boy would look like as a man, now, filling the local tabloids), from the beginning you know a new life for Jack Burridge is not going to be easy ...

But damned if you'll be rooting for him all the way. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See