The Boys Are Back: the long way home

Scott Hicks’s filmmaking magic still shines in South Australia, and he brought Clive Owen along to engage audiences in one of the most heart-warming films of the year. Miguel Gonzalez writes.

 The Boys Are Back based on a memoir by Simon Carr was first offered to Hicks by British production company Tiger Aspect (Billy Elliott) back in early 2004. He loved it and started thinking about the casting for protagonist Joe Warr, the English sports journalist living in South Australia who must face the grief of losing his wife and the challenge of raising his young son Artie and the recently arrived Harry, product of his first marriage in the UK.

Having recently seen his Oscar-nominated performance in Closer, Hicks approached Clive Owen, who also loved the script.

“Stars can be difficult to reach, but that’s been an incredible thing in my world, post Shine, I’ve been given access to talent and scripts. Things are available to me and I appreciate that because for years, as a filmmaker, I knew how difficult it was to break through.