Growing Up Smith (aka Good Ol’ Boy)

Having immigrated from India, ten-year-old Smith’s family has super big plans for him: he’s going to pursue the American dream (they named him Smith, so how hard could that be?); he’s going to become a neurosurgeon; and then he’s going to marry the girl of his parents’ dreams, whom he will not meet until their wedding day. But this is America in 1979, so what Smith actually does is: get beat up at school; attach a megaphone to his bike so he can say, “How’s doing!” to all his neighbors; and fall in love with the blonde girl next door. GOOD OL’ BOY is the charming ode to a time when socks were knee-high, Tab was sipped through a straw, and the Lone Ranger wore a jean jacket and drove a tow truck. The Lone Ranger, in this case, is the girl’s father, Butch (charmingly played by Jason Lee), who is the only adult willing to allow Smith to be who he wants to be. As poetic as it is funny, GOOD OL’ BOY reminds us that it’s not where we’re from, but where we are that makes us the person we become. –T.W.