5/5 Peculiarly British, With Universal Application
  by John D. Cofield
Its 1983, and the students and faculty at a Northern England grammar (academic) school are ecstatic over their A-Level (college entrance exam)results. A group of young guys have done well enough that now they can not only aspire to university, they are actually in the running for Oxford and Cambridge. This is a rare event for this particular school, and extraordinary steps have to be taken.

The candidates are put through an intensive extra study session with two history teachers. One of the teachers is a veteran, the other young and newly recruited. The training consists of debates, critical readings, and above all writing as the teachers push the candidates to new scholarship levels. The boys themselves are determined to succeed, but they're also teenagers, with all the social, cultural, and sexual complications that involves. And the two teachers themselves have their own issues, leading to some behavior which is morally and legally reprehensible.

The Northern England accents can be a bit difficult for non-British viewers to follow, and the organization of the British educational system seems far more complex than necessary, but nevertheless I, a history teacher in an American high school, was able to recognize many common elements and traits, and to feel the same pride for these history boys that I do when my own students do well. And while I can't say I found the out of class behavior of the two teachers admirable or even acceptable, I could understand their dedication to their profession and to their pupils' success.

4/5 Brit boys rock
  by Joseph Sanchez (El Paso, TX)
These Brit boys blew me away. The sexual undertones were just enough to keep you on edge and wanting more. The plot itself challenges anyone stuck in their way of doing things to see EVERYTHING from a different perspective.

4/5 Alan Bennett deflates the dons
  by Accent Marketing Group (Cheyenne, WY)
I enjoyed the premise, and totally got all of the jokes and the poking fun at the Oxbridge candidates. What did not work for me was the new teacher, who was sooo unbearable and superior that you knew he had to be a liar about his credentials, and yet as smart as he is supposed to be, gets lured into a 'date' by the lad everyone adores.

I was also sad that Richard Griffiths got sidelined in the movie, not just the play, because the boor is so omnipresent with his smug yet deer in the headlamps look that he was distracting!

The French lesson at the start was priceless. The boys together were great. It was only when they got split off for more in-depth analysis we sort of lost them, ironically.

The end is sad, but what else can you do!? The headmaster was appropriately awful generally, but in this day and age, I am afraid that all the teacher's actions given the situation did not ring true. Compare Notes on a Scandal, for example, there it is an older woman, younger man, but still, major explosions, not oh well, he was being appreciative.

Alan Bennett has some cracking lines, but they are from the arrogant lad-great job Dominic Cooper--whom we don't like, the sad old plump teacher, and the gay chap pining for love from either one of them! So rather uneven but still very entertaining if you can suspend your disbelief or ignore that subtext all together-the suspense as to whether they get in is the main thing!

3/5 2.5 stars out of 4
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

It's nice to see a movie about school that isn't formulaic, but something about The History Boys just doesn't work; maybe it's the fact that it works better on stage, or maybe it's the lack of any real plotline, but I found the movie interesting yet distinctly unmemorable.

5/5 Talky but brilliant
  by Michael K. Smith (Gonzales, Louisiana)
This is a brilliant piece of work, especially if you love ideas and language, and even more especially if you love history. It's 1983 in Yorkshire and one lucky grammar school (the equivalent of a U.S. high school) has eight very bright but not very privileged boys who have passed their A-Levels and are up for consideration for Oxford and Cambridge. The Headmaster is delighted, of course; think of the glory the school can accrue from this. The boys themselves are a bit more unsure about it, some of them really only wanting to please their parents. There are two teachers, "Tot" and "Hector," with very different styles, but the Headmaster doesn't think they're sufficient to get the boys ready, so he brings in a supposed recent Oxford grad himself, to "polish them up." And there's the plot. But the story is much, much deeper than that, as you would expect from Alan Bennett. Hector, beautifully played by Richard Griffiths, is an aging, gay, devotee of literature who rides a motorcycle, who is, in many ways, the central figure of the story. Hector loves poetry and literature, and he understands them -- and, most important, he can explain them to his students. Balancing him is Irwin, the hired gun, is very different in urging his students to play to their own strengths in order to "work the system." The dialogue is brilliant, snappy, witty, and energetic at the same time. The interactions among the characters -- all of whom played their roles at the National Theatre as well as in the film -- are both playful and thoughtful. And you'll even learn some history and literature.