Joe Warr (Clive Owen) is a sportswriter who lives in a rural area of South Australia. He barely knew his younger son Harry from his first marriage, who lives in England with his mother. Now, due to his travel schedule, Joe is missing out on the childhood of his son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty). His beautiful, patient, and efficient wife Katy (Laura Fraser) runs the household until she is stricken with terminal cancer. Joe is staggered by the loss and unprepared to assume full-time care of Artie. After the funeral, the boy goes to stay with his maternal grandmother (Julia Blake) who has her own ideas on how what children need.
Joe is a bit of a Peter Pan himself, and he decides he'll take Artie on a trip so they can get to know each other. Seeing his son up close, he realizes how much the boy misses his mother and is acting out various stages of denial, anger, and depression. Joe tries to keep his mind off these things by providing him with his own brand of "free-range" parenting which means exposing him to challenging situations. We see him driving on a beach near the ocean with Artie perched on the hood and whooping it up.
When they return home, things do not go smoothly. Dirty dishes pile up in the kitchen, and clothes are scattered all over the place. He does meet Laura (Emma Booth), a single mom at Artie's school, who helps take care of the boy. In fact, she does such a good job that Artie asks his dad if he can move in with her. When Joe shows his disappointment with this idea, the boy backs down.
Things get even more complicated when Harry (George MacKay) comes for a visit. He has his own agenda to deal with: the continuing sadness over being abandoned by his father. The pressure on Joe doubles when his boss wants him back at work full speed.
The Boys Are Back is based on Simon Carr's 2001 memoir and is directed by Scott Hicks who dealt with another man's emotional journey in Shine, which featured Geoffrey Rush's Oscar-winning performance as a pianist with psychological problems. Clive Owen puts in an impressive performance as the grief-stricken British expat who is forced to forge a new family and establish a loving and nurturing relationship with his two sons. He gets some help from Katy's spirit who hovers nearby and offers wise counsel. But, by and large, Joe rises to the considerable challenges which face him as he valiantly tries to connect with his sons and be there for them. Where the Boys Are reveals the messiness of parenting and the miracle of learning from our mistakes.
