I’m reaching way back in time for this one, but it was a nice find on my part. I came across Dream Boy earlier this week, and decided to give the shorter novel a read before delving into the film. Here it goes!
I’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and say bravo to the movie for following the novel almost to a “T.” It centers on new in town, Nathan, who builds a small country town friendship and then relationship with his neighbor, Roy. While that’s all dreamy and cute, the flip side of this novel follows Nathan sexually abusive relationship with his father and the fear that he faces every day.
These are some very real and intense subjects that are covered in a novel released in 1995, and then again when the movie was released in 2008. I would say that not much of the world really wanted to address either of those topics at either of those times in life, but a real poignancy was brought to the page and the screen.
My only real complaint with the film was that the dialogue felt very stilted at times, even though I realize that Nathan was fairly awkwardly written in the novel. And between the two of them, the ending was really ambiguous. I think it could be interpreted in two different ways, and I think both work and don’t work in their own ways. I’ll just let you read and watch to be the judge of that 🙂