#140RVW
I don’t know what’s the bigger surprise: Hugh Grant being likable or the American Pie guys making a great movie. Great acting in this one…
What’s more:
Chose to review this one today to recognize the 20th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain. This is a bit of a stretch, as the film completely ignores the numerous Cobain references that were so prominent in the book. Author Nick Hornby titled his novel “About A Boy” after the Nirvana song “About A Girl” and had several plot points based off of the musician’s cultural influence. I get that they wanted to update the timeframe of the story to match the movie’s release date, but they really cut out a big piece of the book’s heart.
This movie may be notable partly because it was the first thing with Hugh Grant that wasn’t intolerable. (Caveat: I didn’t see Four Weddings and a Funeral until after seeing this, and that’s a great movie. Although, to be fair, it is also directly responsible for the crap movies that Grant made afterwards.)
Will Freeman (Grant) is a lazy, jobless, bird-dogging island of a man who inadvertently stumbles upon the world of single mothers as an untapped resource of future liaisons. He even invents a young son to gain entry into a single parent support group. This plan goes awry when Fiona (Toni Collette), one of the single parents, attempts suicide and Will finds himself shadowed by her teenage child Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), desperate to form a connection.
About A Boy was written for film by Peter Hedges and directors Chris & Paul Weitz, and received an Oscar nomination for the adapted screenplay. It’s a great adaptation and the writing is whip-smart.
The movie is so good because it isn’t afraid to show life as the messy, sometimes frustrating and never simple son of a bitch it is. There are no clean moments here, no easy relationships. That’s not to say that it’s depressing or anything, it’s just a very realistic depiction of life.
The music for the film by artist Badly Drawn Boy is quite good, with the poppy “Something to Talk About” a particular standout; you’ll know it, they play it about 30 times.
The acting is stellar. In addition to Grant’s career best performance, Rachel Weisz and especially Toni Collette are marvelous, and newcomer Nicholas Hoult in his film debut is captivating.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Hugh Grant Will Freeman, Nicholas Hoult Marcus Brewer, Toni Collette Fiona Brewer, Sharon Small Christine |
| Rating | TV-14 |
| Release Date | Fri 17 May 2002 UTC |
| Director | Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz |
| Genres | Comedy, Drama, Romance |
| Plot | Based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling novel, About A Boy is the story of a cynical, immature young man who is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 101 |
| Tagline | Growing up has nothing to do with age. |
| Writers | Nick Hornby (novel), Peter Hedges (screenplay) … |
| Year | 2002 |