Here's the story:
Four orphans, all born in December (tada: December Boys) are given a seaside vacation as a gift for their birthdays. What starts out as the best time they have ever had turns ugly when they discover that the fantastic couple next door is planning to adopt one of them. All the boys want to be chosen, with the exception of "Maps" who as the oldest fears it is too late for him. A fierce competition to win over the couple’s attention ensues between the younger three, threatening to break the strong bond between them.
You can watch the December Boys trailer to get an idea.
I started watching this with my roommate to see if Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) can be a non-wizardy kid. We both decided that he did all right but his character, Maps, was pretty much the same person as Harry but without the wand. Oh well, at least he wasn't naked in this. The entire film reminded me of Devil's Playground due to the emphasis on religion, being an adolescent boy, naked women, sex, and the importance of family and acceptance.
On IMDB, one of the tag lines for Devil's Playground is:"Young men torn between physical desire and religious discipline"
This pattern is seen multiple times in December Boys, for example: when Misty tells the other boys they are going to hell for looking at naked women, or when Maps tells Lucy he doesn't want to be a priest as she sexually awakens him.
Overall, I thought December Boys was in fact too similar and cliche. I felt like I knew what would happen right from the beginning. There was also a subplot that was just like Big Fish involving a rather large fish. I would have appreciated some new fresh ideas but I guess the ones they used are pretty solid and timeless.
Apparently I am not alone in this feeling, Rotten Tomatoes seems to agree...
So- sorry Harry, don't drop out of Hogwarts...
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