About A Boy (2002)
Grade: A
Cast: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and Rachel Weisz
Directors: Chris and Paul Weitz
Rated PG-13 for language and adult situations


"About A Boy" is a film about relationships between friends and lovers. But it's also undeniably about growing up and being responsible and accountible for what you do and any repurcussions that my crop up along the way. In short, "About A Boy" is a coming-of-age story for an older audience. Just like them, the film is more mature and more refined than most coming-of-age stories. One of the main characters may be a precocious pre-teen, but the lessons learned are universal, and an older crowd is better equiped to grasp what this movie has to say.

Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) is, well, just that: a free man. He lives comfortable because he gets the royalty money for a famous Christmas song that his dad wrote. He lives in a posh apartment and has neat gizmos and gadgets, but he doesn't really have any good friends to speak of, and women are growing aware of his womanizing ways.

So, thinking he'll get some better lovin' from a single mother (because after all, it is a known FACT that single mothers want more sex then "regular women" do), he starts to crash single parent support groups in hopes of finding one hot momma (pun half intended). Well, things for okay for a while. That is, until he meets Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), who has a crazy, emotionally unstable, pseudo hippie vegan, suicidal mum named Fiona (Toni Collette) who Will meets for the first time when he calls an ambulance for the almost dead Fiona.

After that fateful even, Will and Marcus form an interesting friendship where Will learns how to grow up and be a man, and Marcus learns how to be "cool." Eventually, Will ends up using Marcus to impress the beautiful Rachel (Rachel Weisz), whom Will is suddenly and surprisingly smitten over. Not so predictable plot points follow.

The key to this film's success is all in the casting and the chemistry between Marcus and Will. After showing in last year's "Bridget Jones's Diary" that he can play a cad, Hugh Grant was suddenly perfect for the role. But it was even more important for the character of Marcus to be believeable socially retarded. Hoult is great in the role and gies the best youth performance of the year to date. But the chemistry between the two leads is perfect. Marcus' yearning to be cool like Will is a good contrast to Will's fondness for the boy in spite of himself. The two actors come off as genuine friends and the tirals and tribulations ring surprisingly true.

One things I really liked about "Boy" was the theme of music as a means to freedom. Will's freedom from a steady job and accountability stem from his father's hit song. And, as you'll see in the film's climax, it also helps him to shed his vanity. Marcus, on the other hand, doesn't possess any vanity, but he does possess a cukoo other and some ugly clothes. He sings (albeit not too well) as way to escape his daily ridicule and his overbearing mother.

The performances in thie film are across-the-board perfect. As I already said, Hugh Grant is now the only actor I can see in this role, that's how indelible his portrayal is. Newcomer Nicholas Hoult does a good job with angst. The real star of this production is Toni Collette ("Changing Lanes"). Her portrayal of Fiona is somewhat reminiscent of what Francis McDormand did in ""Almost Famous." She wants Marcus to think for himself and to be who his own person, but she also wants him to carry a lot of her own traits with him.

If the film makes one misstep, it's the awkward and predictable feel good denoument. After all of the sharp, sardonic with and humor, the film wants to melt our hearts. I did melt mine, but I didn't like the fashion in which they made their attempt. Even with a faulty conclusion, the film has enough merit to fashion itself as the best film of 2002 so far.

--Brian Jones, June 2002