WILL LIGHTMAN IS A GOOD-LOOKING, SMOOTH-TALKING BACHELOR WHOSE PRIMARY GOAL IN LIFE IS AVOIDING ANY KIND OF RESPONSIBILITY. BUT WHEN HE INVENTS AN IMAGINARY SON IN ORDER TO MEET ATTRACTIVE SINGLE MOMS, WILL GETS A HILARIOUS LESSON ABOUT LIFE FROM A BRIGHT BUT HOPELESSLY GEEKY 12-YEAR-OLD NAMED MARCUS.A box-office smash in England, About a Boy went on to charm the world as another fine adaptation (following High Fidelity) of a popular Nick Hornby novel. While High Fidelity transplanted its London charm to Chicago, this irresistible comedy was directed by Americans Chris and Paul Weitz (American Pie) with its British pedigree intact. Better yet, Hugh Grant is perfectly cast as Will, a self-absorbed trust-fund slacker who tries to improve his romantic odds by preying on desperate single mothers. His cynical strategy backfires when he recruits the misfit son (Nicholas Hoult) of a suicidal mother (Toni Collette) to pose as his own son, thus proving his parental prowess to his latest single-mom target (Rachel Weisz). The kid has a warming effect on this ultimate cad, and what could have been a sappy tearjerker turns into a subtle, frequently hilarious portrait of familial quirks and elevated self-esteem. From start to finish, it’s a genuine treat. –Jeff Shannon
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August 6, 2010
#1
Review by Eric Anderson
Rating:
This movie is set in contemporary London and its story revolves around the life of playboy Will Freeman (Hugh Grant). Freeman is an independent man who enjoys a leisurely life carved into careful sections. His friends find him desperately lonely and unfulfilled, a notion he entirely disregards. Whilst trying to find creative new ways to meet single women for casual relationships, he meets a boy named Marcus (Nicholas Hoult). Marcus is the misfit at his school, overburdened by his freethinking and chronically depressed mother, Fiona (Toni Collette). Freeman and Marcus forge an unlikely but edifying bond that transposes their generation gap and differences. Culminating in a hilarious school music performance, the two discover new ways to navigate a changing world and terms in which to redefine the meaning of family.Saturated by the amazing music of Badly Drawn Boy, this is an enduring and enjoyable comedy. Hugh Grant’s character of the roguish unlikely hero seems ideally suited to him. Collette’s performance as a seeming shallow liberal is wonderfully dynamic, bringing depth and heart to the character. The film tackles many social issues, especially problems of male (father-son) relations, from a compelling point of view. It’s a picture of modern England that burrows into the largely untapped life of this fascinating country. The horribly undeveloped and unrealistic character of the rebellious teenage girl with whom Marcus becomes smitten is the only place where this film really lacks. Otherwise it is a pleasure to watch.
August 6, 2010
#2
Review by schapmock
Rating:
Heartwarming studio chickflick about Hugh Grant bonding with a little boy…this description didn’t send me rushing to the cinema, despite the Nick Hornsby brand. But shockingly, About a Boy isn’t a standard Hollywood prefab romcom or sentimental twaddle — it’s an actual film, sharply written, evocatively directed, beautifully acted.The caustic British wit immediately sets the film apart from its studio comedy brethren — its actually, frequently funny. The characters feel real, lived in. The superb dual voiceover is potent rebuke to those still peddling the convential wisdom that vo’s are “uncinematic” (if this includes you you’re immediately assigned “Election” and “Adaptation”), working comfortably inside our protagonists’ heads without any dreaded ‘literary’ staining, bringing their vibrant inner lives to comic life.So instead of the false life lessons and maudlin sentimentality films of this sort so often trade in, we get a moving, witty story about…okay, yeah…Hugh Grant bonding with a little boy. But that’s no reason not to rent it.The widescreen picture is gorgeous (another nice departure from drearily filmed studio comedies) and the disc comes with numerous, lengthy deleted scenes that are virtually all terrific, and well worth viewing.
August 6, 2010
#3
Review by Riley McCarthy
Rating:
It frightened me, at first, to hear that directors Chris and Paul Weitz, the guys who made “American Pie,” were behind the film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel. Though Hugh Grant was born to play the self-centered, shallow, immature man urged to grow through his relationship with a young boy in need, I forgot about the occasional moments of warmth in “American Pie” and doubted the Weitzes were capable of conveying the heart and seriousness necessary to make this film. I was wrong. Matching moments of true horror involving attempted suicide at the film’s beginning with Grant’s continuing snarky, sarcastic voiceover showed that the directors had found the precise balance necessary to make the film work. It’s a heartwarming, occasionally edgy film about the human need for others and about how a family – whether one we’re born into or one that we create for ourselves – can help us grow.Nicholas Hoult, as Marcus, gives a great performance, and Toni Collette, as his hippie, depressive mother, is Oscar-caliber, but the film belongs to Grant. It’s the best work he’s ever done.
August 6, 2010
#4
Review by Tsuyoshi
Rating:
This is the third (not the second) adaptation of bestselling novelist Nick Hornby, after “Fever Pitch” starring Colin Firth, and “High Fidelity” starring John Cusack. As his previous films all are, “About a Boy” is, very naturally, about a boy, or some thrity-something males with boy’s heart. This time you will follow a life of Will, 38 years old, who lives a comfortable life in London, with the income from the copyright of a corny Christmas song his dad wrote years ago, spending every day watching TV, or sometimes, dating with girls without constant relations. In a word, a slacker. And he is played by perfectly cast (no sarcasm) Hugh Grant.Before you say “again!” … yes, you are right, he was such a git in “Bridget Jones’ Diary” … let me add somthing more. There’s another “boy” who steps into his comfy life, and that’s Marcus, 12 years old, whose unlucky fate is sealed in a new school when his mother Toni Collette (again, simply great!) called him “I love you.” Because of his ex-hippie mom who is very tender, but can easily raise hell when she is in a bad mood, Marcus seeks for a haven where he and his mom can find a help. And here’s Will, plenty of time, and money too.So the very unlikely connection is established when Marcus accidentally killed a duck in a park by a loaf of bread (seriously), and his mom is brought to ER in a hospital. Inspite of constant rejection on the side of Will, who considers himself as an human island, their friendship as temporary boy-and-father status slowly starts to develop. First, remember this. You will find Hugh Grant’s “Will” unlikeable fellow at first, who chases only single mothers for his date (see the reason in film). At least, he is honest, and don’t hide that fact. Charmingly self-centered Will, however, will be very attractive after Marcus’s character comes to him. So after the opening credit, you have to wait a while.Second, though this has a side of romantic comedy (particularly after Rachael Weisz appears), you soon realize that “About a Boy” is basically the changing friendship between these “boys.” Hugh Grant delivers a nice performance as a helplessly self-assured guy after his “Daniel Clever” alongside with Bridget Jones, but it is the talented newcomer Nicholas Hoult who should be called the real star of the film. He is natural, likeable, and most of all, believable. Don’t be put off just because this is not about girls.Directors Paul and Chris Weitz Bros. are famous for “American Pie,” but there’s no gross-out elements that stand out in that film (and “American Pie” is in reality confirming a very traditional values between boys and girls). They again succeed in portraying a web of credible relations between characters, punctuated with very funny moments. Though too many narrations (and in Grant’s mumbling British accent I find them very hard to understand) are often annoying, and the finale might be a step longer than it should be, the total result is very amusing, and honest as well. I like it.
August 6, 2010
#5
Review by
Rating:
If you liked the movie “Bridget Jones’s Diary”; if you liked the Nick Hornby novel on which this movie is based; or if you liked Hornby’s novel “High Fidelity” but were disappointed by the lame Americanized film, this movie is for you. The adaptation is about as good as one can hope for, the script (like the novel) is hilarious, and the performances are great. Hugh Grant as Will, in particular, is the most likeable cad I’ve ever seen on film, Toni Collette is quite believable, and the boy who plays Marcus is excellent and endearing (and I usually hate kids in movies, so that’s saying something!). My only complaint is that Rachel, the woman Will eventually falls for, is completely blah. If she’s supposed to be so fabulous, so much more special than anyone Will has dated before, why didn’t the filmmakers give her an actual personality? Instead she just coasts by on her looks, which happens often enough with women in movies as it is. Still, this is a great movie. I recommend it to everyone with a sense of humor.