All The Fine Boys NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (95)
See it if This is more like 2 separate plays mashed together of very different qualities. One riveting, one baffling. Still the good outweighs the bad
Don't see it if subject matter of desperate 14 y-o girls in need of attention with tragic consequences. Heavy but done believably and successfully. Read more
See it if You like well performed dramas about uncomfortable subject matter. Breslin & Tippett are excellent & their scenes are scaringly believable.
Don't see it if A bit uneven. The secondary couple's story is not as interesting or engaging, found myself waiting for Breslin/Tippett to return.
See it if you hate Theater! This way you will hate it more!
Don't see it if you like good acting, good theater or a good story.
See it if you'd like to see Abigail Breslin grown up, stories of high school aged young women trying to define themselves, funny yet tragic situatiion
Don't see it if teenage girls behaving badly & trying to discover their sexuality don't interest you, predictable tragic endings disturb you,
See it if 4 spot-on channeling of '80s adolescent girl talk and obsessions, solid performances
Don't see it if two adolescent girls experiment sexually with older men, one pays a steep price, the other gains confidence/insight; and the point is??? Read more
See it if My partner liked the idea of the problems of the young. Scored an 80
Don't see it if I was disturbed by the topic . The actors were too old for the 14 year olds. My score a 60
See it if You really enjoy Lifetime movies-of-the-week about teenage girls and statutory rape.
Don't see it if It's important to you that there's some kind of value statement within a work about a heavy topic.
See it if you want to see a fascinating and dark exploration of the intersection between ambition and coming of age.
Don't see it if you're going for Abigail Breslin. This production probably would've been better served by a different actress. (Rest of the cast is great.)
Critic Reviews (28)
"Ms. Breslin’s self-conscious, underdeveloped performance...At 20, she still comes across as older than her years, so casting her to portray a 14-year-old is a puzzling decision — one that knocks the production badly out of kilter. The cumulative impact of the play hinges on Jenny, so it is no small thing that she never seems real...The play is smarter and more deliberate on the page than it seems in this world-premiere production."
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"Schmidt's raw one-act drama juxtaposes the first sexual encounters of a pair of 14-year-old BFFs...While this is hardly virgin territory, there's a stinging authenticity to their awkward interactions that's alternately hilarious and horrifying...Organized into a series of two-person scenes, 'All the Fine Boys' falls into a predictable rhythm, though a few necessarily stomach-churning sequences jolt. You'll probably know where these ladies are headed long before they do."
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“More exploitative than illuminating…Schmidt doesn’t do this play any favors with her sluggishly paced direction…From its trivial opening scene to its melodramatic conclusion, ‘All the Fine Boys’ feels shallow and superficial. What seems clearly intended to be a haunting examination of lost innocence instead comes across like a cautionary made-for-television film from the '80s, the era in which the play is set.”
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"It’s the one where Little Miss Sunshine loses her virginity while eating a slice of pizza. If this contrived play, written and directed by Erica Schmidt and presented by the New Group, is remembered for anything, it’ll be that creepy doozy of a scene. That’s not nothing, but still...Like the script, the acting rarely rings true in a work that can’t pick a point of view—satire, dark comedy, cautionary drama, Lifetime tale? Who knows."
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"Schmidt's contrivance leaves little doubt as to where we are headed. Luckily, she is skilled enough as a director to build ample tension in a play mostly lacking suspense. The result is an engrossing bit of sensationalism...This stellar cast is able to turn their broadly drawn characters into human beings...Unfortunately, Schmidt's treatment of these subjects feels as nourishing as the Pringles Jenny stuffs in her mouth...While it's fun and tasty, you know you'll be hungry again in an hour."
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"Schmidt keeps both plotlines moving in tandem, but this parallel structure results in a distinctly unbalanced drama...One narrative feels honest; the other is hopelessly overwrought...Nevertheless, all four cast members expertly bring to life these two ill-fated courtships...The most interesting thing about 'All the Fine Boys' is that neither Jenny nor Emily is a victim, although things go very badly for at least one of them...Still, it often feels like two plays stitched together."
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"The point seems to be that, under the wrong circumstances, girls can grow up too fast—and too dangerously—but the scenario as constructed here stretches credulity past the breaking part, and doesn't engage our sympathy at all...Despite adroit isolated moments throughout, the play as a whole is richly unsatisfying; the men simply can't compete with the women, and are given far too many opportunities to prove it...'All the Fine Boys' is monochromatic at best."
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"Unpleasant and trite, two 14- year-old girls’ romantic preoccupations with two men are tediously depicted in 'All the Fine Boys.' It features a ghastly simulated sex scene, and its violent resolution is so predictable that it’s only a matter of when it will happen. Playwright Erica Schmidt has a minor aptitude for believably snappy dialogue, but not much else. Her tired scenario is astonishingly familiar and offers no fresh insights...The strong cast makes the most of their derivative roles."
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