British actor Clive Owen shines in The Boys are Back, a heart wrenching tale of single parenthood.

In what seems like a departure from his previous roles, Clive Owen stars in this independent film as troubled sports journalist Joe Warr, a father learning the ropes of parenthood after the untimely death of his wife.

Set in the depths of Australia, the emotional tale is an adaptation of Simon Carr’s Memoir which was published in 2000. The story follows Joe as his discovers the difficulties of single-handedly raising six-year-old son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty), as well as the hardships involved when rekindling a strained relationship with Harry (George MacKay), his teenage son who was left in England following Joe’s move to Australia.

This is certainly not your average family film. However, despite its seemingly sombre nature, this is a heart warming production that succeeds simply because it is truthful and therefore familiar to the audience in a way that a Hollywood film could never be.

Producer Greg Brendan (Billy Elliot) told of the complications involved when working from Carr’s memoirs: ‘the book is a series of anecdotes… it doesn’t have a narrative arc… [but] it dug deep to me and I think everyone that has read the book. Emotionally, it has such a deep well to pull from.’

Upon the suggestion that distributors prefer filmmakers to go down the ‘Hollywood route’ because that – to the audience – is more relatable, Director Scott Hicks (Shine) added that ‘the really relatable thing here was how real these feelings felt. The challenge for me was to find the balance that was emotional… [making] perfect choices down the line, through the music, through all the editing. It’s a matter of modulating.’

The Boys are Back truly relies upon its emotional story and the on-screen relationships between father and sons, making the dynamics between Owen, McAnulty and MacKay of utmost importance. The family rifts and revelations are entirely believable and it is Owen’s portrayal of the father in despair combined with Joe’s questionable yet instinctive parental techniques that leave the audience gunning for family victory.

‘In some ways it was a radical approach to parenting.’ Owen tells of Joe’s “just say yes” attitude to his children, inevitably leading to rebellion and dysfunction. ‘The film is not advocating that this is the way parenting is, it’s saying this is this guy’s approach and this is how he got through it. It’s not about being responsible or irresponsible.’

It seems that the film’s touching material and raw nature is responsible for brilliant performances all round and it is perhaps Owen’s attitude to his own family life that has led to murmurings of an Oscar nomination for this performance:

‘People have said to me that this [role] is quite a departure… now I never saw it as that… parenting is a big part of my life and I felt that I had similar experiences with a lot of things in this movie… so it felt reasonably familiar. I didn’t have the huge tragic loss that they have but in terms of all the ups and downs of parenting… At the end of the day it’s all about responding to the material.’

Well it seems the Owen has done just that, helping to create this moving masterpiece that is bound to stay with viewers for some time after watching.

The Boys are Back is out in cinemas 15 January 2010.