About a Boy (dir. Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, 2002)
Will (Hugh Grant) is living his best life. 38 years old. Never held a real job or had a relationship last longer than a couple of months. Has a ludicrously nice place in London. Looks like Hugh Grant. His father had a one hit wonder of a Christmas song published in the fifties, and the royalties from it playing constantly every holiday season have financed this enviable lifestyle. Sure, some people would call it an empty and meaningless existence, but Will doesn’t think so. His last romantic liaison has given him a brilliant idea: he should date single mothers. He looks good in comparison to an absent father and they will never last due to complications. The trouble, however, is how to meet these women, but finds a way. He makes up a fake son and joins a support group, Single Parents Alone Together—SPAT.
Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) is a twelve year old boy with an unfortunate haircut and who is so unpopular at school that even the other dorks want nothing to do with him. He lives with his mother Fiona (Toni Collette), who is a member of SPAT. Her interests include vegetarian cooking, the songs of Carole King, and depression. Marcus doesn’t know how to help her. He barely knows how to get through the day himself
Our two narrators naturally become entangled in each other’s lives.
About a Boy is based on a Nick Hornby novel that I have never read. He’s one of those authors that I keep thinking, “Oh, I should read the book, but I know the movie will come out within five years.” Yeah, I enjoyed the book version of High Fidelity and A Long Way Down was fine, but you know, I’m lazy. Also, Nick, please do not be insulted by this, because you are doing much better than either Tom Perrotta or John Le Carre.
I’ve liked this film since I first saw it fifteen or sixteen years ago on cable, taking such wrong lessons from it as, “Yes, Jon Bon Jovi did say that no man is an island,” and about passive income. Sure, there was also that bit about the need for humans to connect with each other that E.M Forster hammered on about. Howards End was good and all, but I prefer this story because it had more Mystikal on the soundtrack.
It’s also a real triumph of casting. Will might be the ideal part for Hugh Grant, though I say that without having seen Paddington 2. The streak of romantic comedies he made in the nineties were fine, but Grant is better at playing a selfish, shallow bastard who achieves a modicum of self-growth than a fop with floppy hair. Nicholas Hoult had done several years of work in television. This was his first film role. Give the casting director an award for that. It’s not exactly a debut like Alan Rickman in Die Hard, but it is still notably good. Also, this film was my first real exposure to Toni Collette, who I’m not sure I’ve ever seen give a truly bad performance.
oliveresque 