About a Boy

The book is an excellent read, while more extensive in its story elements and structure, it is funny, moving and compelling. The movie is also very, very good. I personally would have liked the first half of the movie especially to have slowed down a tad, some of it felt rushed and skimmed through. And while it is not as extensive or quite as developed as the book, it is every bit, if not more so, as funny, moving and as compelling. The whole movie is beautifully filmed, the soundtrack is beguiling, the excellent is suitably adroit and the script is funny, sharp and witty. And the more poignant scenes were genuinely so. The whole cast give sterling performances, Hugh Grant is on excellent form, and Nicholas Hoult is very believable as the troubled boy. Sharon Small, Toni Collette and Rachel Weisz also are solid. All in all, a very good film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Selfish, self-centered rich `kid' Will Freeman lives alone as an island in London, living off royalties from his father's record. When a new dating trick sees him targeting single mothers because they are easier to dump he unwittingly gets mixed up with Marcus. Marcus is a 12 year old who is bullied at school because of his hippy life style (forced on him by his mother) and struggles at home with his depressed, suicidal mother. At first he sees himself helping his mum by getting Will to like her but gradually Marcus and Will get used to each other and have lessons that both can learn.

Following the steaming success of High Fidelity, another Hornby book makes the transition. However credit should be given for setting the movie in England and not moving it somewhere else (cooler). This however is probably due to the lead being English and very bankable!

The story is of course about blokes….and blokes problems – this is Hornby after all. The plot is simple but the fact that it done with a great deal of wit makes it come across very easily. Occasionally the mix of heavy subjects (Marcus's home life) with the comedy of Will's life is a little uneasy, but after a while it mixes better. The story is pretty revealing – I can see a lot of myself in Will, as many men will, and it is involving then to see Marcus teach him things about life. However, saying that, the best thing about this is the comedy – when Will is involved it is nearly always laugh out loud funny – and that's most of the time.

The directors deal with this film really well – they focus on Grants strengths and also use several really cool visual things to add to the comedy – like quick cuts and freeze frame – but not to the point of annoyance. Surprising that these guys did American Pie! Not the most subtle or clever of comedies…

Grant is excellent here – he easily handles the emotional side of the film and the comedy, but it's in the comedy he excels. His face plays out as many jokes as his words and he is indeed a master at playing this character. However here he has to work harder than when he does his usual `English-fop' stuff, because Will is selfish and not immediately likeable…..I must admit that at the start I struggled to get into the film because I hate these people who spend their time in Notting Hill cafes living off inheritances etc – so it's a credit to Grant that he carries it off. Hoult is not as good – he has too much weight to carry. Hoult has to manage the whole emotional side of the film and at times he can't convince. Collette is good as Fiona but again suffers from not having any of the comedy side of the film. Rachel Weisz was good in a small role but as far as I'm concerned – if she was making this, then she wasn't making another rubbish Mummy film!

Overall this is a successful adaptation of the book. The emotional side and the comedy at times don't sit well together and at times it all feels very lightweight, but ultimately it all comes together. Grant is excellent and excels himself here – when he's on screen the film is hilarious and moves fluidly. Unfortunately it slightly highlights the weaknesses of those around him.

I was a bit scared about what kind of treatment Chris and Paul Weitz had given the great novel by Nick Hornby. I have to report they did a great job in bringing it to the screen with the help of the screenwriter, Peter Hedges III. It's amazing what they have accomplished in translating the book to the screen and not lose focus in doing so. A great many Hollywood brains should take note of what was accomplish in this film.

Hugh Grant strikes the right amount of hipness, confusion and complete lack of responsibility in his interpretation of Will. He is an actor that brings the right attitude in playing a man about London looking for women, no matter where. He's a prowler looking for women who will fall prey to his charms. Mr. Grant is just perfect for this role.

The biggest surprise though, was the amazing debut of Nicholas Hoult, who just bowled us over as Marcus, the "boy" of the title. This young actor has a great career ahead of him if the people behind him will steer him into the right vehicles because he is a natural. He gives Mr. Grant a run for his money. The chemistry of their time together on screen is basically what was on the book while we were reading it.

Toni Collette plays another mother. Again, her interpretation of Fiona was on target. Rachel Weisz adds beauty to the film as Rachel. Someone should take a good look at this gorgeous woman and perhaps give her and Hugh Grant another vehicle where they can shine once again.

Described by some as a man's version of Bridget Jones Diary the remarkable thing is that it lives up to the description. Hugh Grant, with an excellent script that could have been written especially for him, plays a young confirmed single yuppie socialite, dividing his day into units in which to pack his meaningless but carefree, philandering lifestyle and disposable income. After initially discovering unmarried mothers as a new supply of grateful sexual objects, he becomes drawn into a meaningful life after making friends with a young boy. Avoiding a cheesy ending is one of the film's many triumphs.

I think I smiled all the way through `About a Boy,' a comic near-masterpiece derived from the best-selling novel by Nick Hornby. For the sake of accuracy, both the novel and the film should more rightly be titled `About TWO Boys,' since the story focuses not only on 12-year old Marcus, but on 38-year old Will, a man totally dedicated to the proposition that any man who so desires can live quite happily on his own private little urban island, thank you very much. Will's `island' is his own London flat, which he has equipped with all the accoutrements of comfort and diversion that modern technology – in the form of computers, big screen TV's and DVD players - can afford. Who needs people when you have so much `stuff' to keep you content and occupied? Will thrives in his environment, much to the chagrin of his married couple friends who keep insisting that he must certainly be miserable without a wife and family to give his life meaning. But Will loves being shallow – a fact of his personality he is more than willing to declare right up front – and the last thing he needs – or thinks he needs – is people to clutter it up. Yet, island dwellers have a tendency not to remain marooned for long, and, before he knows it, Will finds himself striking up a relationship with a lonely, backward boy named Marcus, whose mother suffers from serious bouts of suicidal depression.

More than any comedy in recent memory, `About a Boy' establishes a tone and sticks with it to the end. The screenplay by Peter Hedges, Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz (the latter two function as the film's directors as well) manages to take a potentially clichéd and predictable story and invest it with a warmth, wit and tenderness that are all-enveloping. The voice-over narration by both Will and Marcus, which introduces us to their characters and keeps us informed as to their mental progress throughout the film, is remarkably clever and droll. Yet, the characters never come across as smug, smart-alecky or flippant. Rather, they speak and behave in ways that are both believable and realistic. Hugh Grant gives his richest performance to date as Will, the man who refuses to grow up and assume the role of responsible adult, blithely unaware of the emotional depths that lie hidden under a surface of apathy and indifference. The superb Grant is more than matched by relative newcomer Nicholas Hoult, an extraordinarily gifted young actor who doesn't look like the average `adorable' screen kid, and who makes Marcus into a very real, very likable and very sensitive young man. The remainder of the large cast is outstanding as well. Moreover, the film is very astute in its observation about just how easy technology has made it for us to isolate ourselves from one another. Admittedly, a little of the sharpness does go out of the screenplay in its closing stretches, but not enough to diminish one's pleasure appreciably.

In many ways, `About a Boy' is a movie that needs to be experienced first hand, since mere words fail to convey the very special charm and spell it manages to cast over the viewer. Rush to see it. Comic gems like this one don't come around very often!