Boys

Scholarship student at an all-male boarding school, John Baker (Haas) is under pressure from his ambitious dad, but feels gnawing restlessness at the prospect of another term. But while he can't wait for his life to begin, dissolute twenty-something Patty Vare (Ryder) probably wishes she could rewind hers a little. It's the morning after the night before, the police are at the door talking about a stolen car, and she may already have reached the wreckage stage herself. Horse-riding provides a few hours' distraction, but a fall leaves her prone on the ground and, soon, an unwitting, forbidden guest in John's dorm. From such circumstances springs a hesitant if unlikely attraction that fulfils a need in each, but which might take some explaining to the outside world. Writer/director Cochran is stronger on capturing the texture surrounding her characters' converging experiences than making much of it when they do get together. Most striking is the background detail at the boys' school, where the unfolding girl-in-the-room crisis hits a properly complex note of panic, excitement, embarrassment and yearning.