Cassandra Bauer
In a filled matinee screening, Big Boys, the debut feature from writer/director Corey Sherman, made the audience of the Twin Cities Film Festival erupt with laughter, fight back tears, and even clap as the credits rolled. This coming-of-age crowd pleaser has a charm that can warm even the most jaded of hearts.
Big Boys‘ transformative dramedy is set during an annual camping trip between 14-year-old Jamie (Isaac Krasner), his older brother Will (Taj Cross), and the family favorite cousin Allie (Dora Madison). But when Allie’s boyfriend Dan (David Johnson III) joins them, Jamie is not pleased. This is the cousin’s camping trip after all. Dan quickly chums up to Will with talk about the college basketball season, leaving soft-spoken Jamie feeling left out. Sports were never his thing as a plump adolescence. The trip he once was looking forward to, he now dreads having to put up with this brawny (yet somehow attractive) jock. Trying his best to make a good impression Dan quips, “I’m sure they’ll be fine. But, if not, we can always feed ’em to the bears.” This phrase we soon recognize as a double entendre when Jamie finds himself grappling with his sexuality.
The camera catches Jamie watching his gay husky neighbors at the start of the film, but he is unable to deduce why they are so fascinating to him. He knows he isn’t gay; he even makes a list proving it to himself: “1. I’ve had crushes on girls before, 2. I don’t care about fashion, 3. I like video games, 4. I don’t have a lisp.” Jamie doesn’t think he looks gay, and doesn’t think he has liked any guys. But what he comes to realize is he has a type: “bears.” Guys with broad shoulders, meaty hands, and round bellies, big boys, guys like Dan.
With his tight XL t-shirts and backwards ball cap, Dan exudes charisma. Like his neighbors, Jamie takes interest in him and his physic. Never having seen someone with so much confidence that also looks like him, Jamie seeks out Dan’s attention and begins to form a bit of a crush. The pair grow closer when Jamie shares his wealth of cooking knowledge to help make the perfect burger around the campfire. Dan dubs them the “big boys.” Everyone but Will, who never fails to be mean, says they are “the best burgers they’ve ever eaten.” From this moment on the two are practically inseparable due to Jamie following Dan around in genuine admiration.
With his first film, Sherman manages to capture one of the most sincere coming-out stories that has graced the big screen. Nowhere is there a big spectacle, angry parents, or opposition to his romantic interests. It is a quiet story that tugs on your heart strings ever so gently and makes you care so deeply about these characters. Much of this can be credited to Isaac Krasner’s sincere performance. He is just a little clumsy in his frame and offers moments of awkward comedy, all together creating an incredibly likable character you can’t help but root for. I hope this film leads Krasner to even bigger roles in the near future.
Sherman simplifies the film form (or perhaps the budget does) to tell a simplistic story. Through this the characters have more room to grow into fully developed people that feel incredibly realistic to real life. The film has a gentleness to it making it incredibly comforting to watch. The enchanting choral score lifts you up at all the right moments and the happy pop soundtrack leaves you smiling from ear to ear. There is an abundant use of warm lighting casting a glow around wholesome montages. Hearing the birds chirp and the toads croak amongst the cracking fire makes you want to be right along there with them roasting marshmallows. Big Boys is all about the simple moments of your teen years that make growing up so special.
We are now in an age where happy gay youth are shown on screen more and more. Rarely was there a time when we saw all three of those things at the same time in the media. But now shows like Heartstopper (2022-Present) and Young Royals (2021-2022), and films like Red, White and Royal Blue (2023) have resonated with queer youth who are finally able to see themselves not only represented on screen, but shown an opportunity of a happy life. Coming-out stories do not always need these grand tense narratives that are full of consequences for the individual coming out. Big Boys offers an alternative. It is a gradual realization of a teenager’s romantic interests. Sure, Jamie faces internal turmoil coming to this conclusion, but he takes his time to confide in someone he cares about and is then embraced with open arms. In an honest depiction of the young queer teen experience, Big Boys certainly has a big heart.
