12-year-old Stet is an angry child, a talented singer who suffers at the hands of his irresponsible alcoholic mother. When she dies in a car accident, his biological father – who now has a new family – sends him to the American Boychoir School, a prestigious music academy. Thanks to a patient choirmaster, Stet slowly learns to regain control of his emotions…

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A melodrama worthy of the name, Boychoir offers no more and no less than a cute story about choirboys designed to make the audience cry. That’s all it wants to be, so there’s no need to get excited. This movie by François Girard (The Red Violin, Silk) is sedate to the point of laziness, with a script full of clichés and syrupy dialogue. An alcoholic mother, jealous friends, a tough teacher with a heart of gold, a family-friendly happy end: nothing is too heavy or ridiculous for this cheesy flick. It’s hard to see what attracted Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates and even Debra Winger to this naïve and bland mix of Oliver Twist and The Chorus, which won’t even move those prepared to shed a polite tear or two.