{"id":126,"date":"2006-03-31T15:55:09","date_gmt":"2006-03-31T22:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=126"},"modified":"2020-11-25T10:56:03","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:56:03","slug":"best-boy-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=126","title":{"rendered":"Best Boy (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;At age 52, Philly began to go to school.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Poster-176x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"176\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-28955\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Poster-176x300.jpg 176w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Poster-75x128.jpg 75w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Poster.jpg 279w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 176px) 100vw, 176px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nFilmmaker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.docurama.com\/filmmakerdetail.html?filmmakerid=56\">Ira Wohl<\/a> helps his aging aunt and uncle find a secure home for their intellectually disabled 52-year-old son, Philly.  <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Documentary<\/li>\n<li>Grown Children<\/li>\n<li>Intellectually Disabled<\/li>\n<li>Survival<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review:<\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;glowing documentary&#8221; &#8212; full of &#8220;many moving scenes&#8221; &#8212; is unique in that its director &#8220;openly influences the lives of the people he&#8217;s filming&#8221;. Due to Wohl&#8217;s concerns that &#8220;Philly will be defenseless if his elderly parents die, Wohl convinces them to allow Philly to take giant strides toward self-sufficiency&#8221; &#8212; and &#8220;the excitement that he feels as he progressively achieves independence is contagious.&#8221; As Peary notes, &#8220;the intimacy Wohl achieves is remarkable &#8212; we become extremely fond of Philly, but we also become sensitive toward his mother and (dying) father, who, when they don&#8217;t worry, are happy about their son&#8217;s accomplishments, yet understandably feel self-pity because the boy needs them less and less.&#8221; Wohl followed this film nearly twenty years later with a sequel, <a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0118701\/\"><em>Best Man<\/em> (1997)<\/a>, which is also of interest, though not nearly as poignant.    <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wohl&#8217;s touching concern and love for his intellectually disabled cousin<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-54672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-54671\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still2.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Still2-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Watching Philly go to school for the first time<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-School.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-School.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-54669\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-School.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-School-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-School-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-School-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Philly and Zero Mostel singing a backstage version of &#8220;If I Were a Rich Man&#8221; together<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Mostel.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Mostel.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-54670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Mostel.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Mostel-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Mostel-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Best-Boy-Mostel-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This Oscar-winning documentary should be seen by all film fanatics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#oscar\">Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0078850\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/best-boy\/review\/133608\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;At age 52, Philly began to go to school.&#8221; Synopsis: Filmmaker Ira Wohl helps his aging aunt and uncle find a secure home for their intellectually disabled 52-year-old son, Philly. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Documentary Grown Children Intellectually Disabled Survival Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Peary writes that this &#8220;glowing documentary&#8221; &#8212; full of &#8220;many moving scenes&#8221; &#8212; is unique in that its director &#8220;openly influences the lives of the people he&#8217;s filming&#8221;. Due to Wohl&#8217;s concerns that &#8220;Philly will&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=126\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54674,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions\/54674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}