The Golden Boys is your typical road trip/buddy comedy, but it’s also an independent feature made for under $700. Produced by brothers Peter and Anthony Algiers, it is evident a lot of work went into making the film. But does that translate into fun for the audience?
A bandit known as the Billy Goat Bandit (Steve Dombroski) is on the loose, robbing banks within a certain radius. Two unemployed friends, Hans (Hans Sardo) and Antho (Peter Algiers), make it their mission to catch him. The reward? Ten thousand upvotes on an internet forum. Antho is part of a conspiracy forum where users have been sharing information about the robberies. He discovered it through another user, “Cat-Thrine” (Brianna Algiers), who is part of a Golden Girls fandom page. The leader of the conspiracy page is “Blanche’s_Beau” (Robert Dunne).
During their journey, Hans and Antho continuously run into State Trooper Foster (Daniel Mills). He tells them there is a monetary reward, after all, of $5,000. To get to the bandit, the friends go through different channels, including a user named “_Thor_” (Anthony Algiers), who has the addresses of everyone on the conspiracy page. He leads them to “Cat-Thrine,” who then leads them to “Blache’s_Beau,” who supposedly knows where the bandit will strike next. The journey is more challenging than expected for the two, and hijinks ensue.
“A bandit…robbing banks within a certain radius. Two unemployed friends…make it their mission to catch him.”
If the plot of The Golden Boys sounds underwhelming yet overstuffed, that’s because it is. Reportedly, the Algiers brothers conceptualized the story in an hour. They wrote the script within a month after that. That’s part of the problem. Everything feels underdeveloped, and it’s clear the filmmakers mostly resorted to improvisation and cliches. Also, there are too many comedic gimmicks, and none of them add to the story or are funny. More time should have gone into developing the narrative and characters further.
For instance, Antho has a backstory regarding his mother’s death. However, it doesn’t go beyond two pieces of dialogue. It could be interesting to have more of a connection between his mother’s death and his desire to find the bandit. Worse still, the story treads into typical tropes of buddy comedies. We know at one point that the friendship will become strained, and they will go their separate ways until they resolve their differences. The problem is moments like these are not earned but shoehorned.
What The Golden Boys doesn’t have, it makes up for in its independent spirit. This is independent filmmaking in its purest definition. The Algiers brothers star, write, direct, produce, shoot, edit, and compose the score. In that respect, the movie has a level of charm and proves a commendable attempt. It is evident from watching the comedy that the small production team had a great time making it. Unfortunately, the film suffers from the inherent shortcomings of low-budget filmmaking. Its photography, lighting, and audio fall short. Still, it’s hard to fault the final product, given the circumstances.
It is a shame that the same fun that went into making the film isn’t on the screen. Like the characters, the Algiers brothers had a destination in mind for The Golden Boys but needed a more substantial road map to get there. Still, the spirit of indie filmmaking is kept alive and well here.
"…has a level of charm..."
