“We’re just normal guys, our job is just abnormal.” - Niall
I want to start by saying that this film is not for men, older women or youths who despise boy bands and foreign accents.
These types of movies are meant to make you fall in love with whoever it’s about. And if you’re already in love, you fall even deeper into it. For me, I liked a few of their songs, but I’m not into boy bands, I mean who is? After The Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, the boy band phase of America died. But be aware, it’s back.
The One Direction boys: Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. All with cute accents coupled with foreign phrases and baby-faces and you’ve got yourself one hell of a worldwide commodity.
The movie begins with the boys each talking about their childhood: their little habits as youths that linked them to music. It then leads into their first concert performance in the film as they sing “Up All Night."
The boys first tried-out for The X Factor, the world’s most popular talent show. Each was cut from the show, and went home crying. Or did they? As a matter of fact, the moment they were eliminated, Simon Powell met them backstage to tell these five they were going to be famous.
The movie is composed of small stories about the boys’ lives and experiences throughout their three years as the famous One Direction boy band. It describes their numerous tours through America, Tokyo and Europe, and highlights the bond they’ve made with one another. Scattered within are concert performances of their most popular songs including, “Kiss You”, “One Thing”, “Teenage Dirtbag Cover” and their first and most-loved, single “What Makes You Beautiful”.
The movie was in high gear, but eased on the brakes as the boys performed “Little Things”. At this point in the movie, you see Zayn sitting on a couch waiting for a call. His mother and family had just arrived at the new house he had bought for them. A movie always has to tug on your heart strings a bit and as the mother cries and thanks her son, you know this is the time.
I think the most attractive thing was that the film really shows what goofy guys the boys really are. Almost every scene shows them running around in golf carts just before they’re supposed to perform, playing pranks on one another and always, always, always “havin’ a laugh”.
To see four boys who tried out for The X Factor individually and lost, come together to tour the world and change lives, well I guess that was the intention. They change what boy bands are, what they mean. It’s not just five guys dancing around a stage. It’s five attractive goofballs having the time of their lives doing what they love. If you’re a fan, this is definitely a film worth seeing more than once.
