All The Fine Boys NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (95)
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.)
See it if you like messed up dramas. If you do there is no way you will not like this play. The acting was top of the line. The actors being old di
Don't see it if nt matter. if you are looking for a happy ending and need that type of play you won't like this. The costumes were great, it felt like 80'
See it if you like coming of age stories and young female sexuality exploration (or exploitation).
Don't see it if you are looking for a lighter story (it does start light & funny) or are uncomfortable with explicit or innapropriate sexual scenes.
See it if you are looking for a change from the fare seen on broadway.
Don't see it if you don't like to see violence on the stage.
See it if enjoy intense & dark drama performed by a talented cast in a small, intimate setting.
Don't see it if want perfection, I look at this piece as a work in progress and yes the story could use work, so skip it if that will bother you.
See it if You like seeing actors from movies you've seen {the 2 actresses}, attractive man {"Joseph"}, "coming-of-age" tale, small theatre.
Don't see it if You're opposed to statutory rape. There's simulated sex and food. It's dated {80s}. Set and acting are "ok". Could be better. Predictable
See it if You want to see these actors in a new play. Good performances in a small theater. Keeps your interest throughout.
Don't see it if The lives of two 14 year old girls are not of interest to you. Starts out light but turns much darker.
See it if willing to put aside inchoate and imperfect writing, jarring scene shifts, and uneven writing to see great young actors amplify the script.
Don't see it if looking for anything profound, or if pedophilia, sexuality, and bildungsroman (in the 1980s, no less) aren't appealing. Rough edges here. Read more
Critic Reviews (28)
"As a script, ‘All the Fine Boys’ does not give actors much to chew on…Both girls are drawn with broad, uncomplicated strokes…As Emily, Isabelle Fuhrman pulls from the role what she can…On the other hand, Abigail Breslin as Jenny never quite finds her groove…Being a girl in her early teens is painfully awkward and anyone who ever was one knows that. However, instead of delving into that world and helping us to feel something about it, 'All the Fine Boys' simply sits with not much to say."
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"A first-rate quartet of actors lend gravity and depth to 'All the Fine Boys,' a slightly odd and decidedly disturbing drama…The most accomplished part of the play is the ways Schmidt reveals just how conflicted Joseph truly is about his actions. Moreover, Tippett is quite remarkable in letting us see Joseph in all his pain, tragedy, and perversity. Meanwhile, Breslin proves to be a brilliant acting partner as she unleashes rage, desperation and adoration upon Joseph."
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"The actors playing teenagers are all young adults, which makes them seem too old for their parts...Fuhrman and Breslin do a decent job at playing younger, but the obstacle remains...How Joseph could stay with the inane Abigail for five minutes much less several days is a major puzzlement. After all, we have no reason to believe he's a serial pedophile. This becomes harder to swallow as her childishness increases and he finds himself threatened by it."
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"Schmidt's script is a mediocre mess. Everything falls flat in such a predictable way. Nothing is layered and everything that happens seems dishonest. Even the end just peters out. Youth, sex and angst have an electric energy to them; 'All the Fine Boys' does not. Ms. Schmidt also directs and is just as helpless there...Ms. Schmidt puts the awkward years into an awkward play instead of finding a voice in which to say something significant. What a waste."
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“Emily and Adam provide the far more predictable set-up…The mark of Schmidt’s talent as a writer and a director, however, is other heroine. What intrigues about the Jenny-and-Joseph scenes is that Jenny appears to be the one in control…Breslin deftly handles the shifts back and forth between manipulator and victim...Because their scenes together promise so much drama, we watch the other couple more out of goodwill than real interest, despite Wolff’s best efforts."
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“Awful…Although the play is set in 1980’s South Carolina, there is little sense of time or place…The most glaring flaw in the play is the cartoonish depiction of Jenny as a grotesque figure with an unlimited appetite for junk food. The long scenes of her and Joseph are hard to watch. The staging is awkward.. It’s a stretch to believe the two women are teenagers, but that’s probably a blessing…Playwright Erica Schmidt can’t blame the director for the outcome: she directed.”
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"Even with some plot holes, 'All the Fine Boys' is a choppy play that needed guidance. There are cliches aplenty...Taking on the dual roles of playwright and director, Erica Schmidt wasn't able to delineate the two. And it shows in the writing. Having a talented cast bolstered the script despite its flaws...'All the Fine Boys' is a thematically interesting play that doesn't offer anything new. The production is saved by the cast but that can only go so far."
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"Breslin gives a fearless, vanity-free performance...She's evenly matched by Joe Tippett, one of my favorite actors, who creates genuine sympathy for a man who could easily have been portrayed as the clichéd villain...The subject matter isn't new. And although Schmidt has a nice way with dialog, her play is clunky in parts. Still, the performances make 'All the Fine Boys' just fine enough."
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