About a Boy

Movie Information

In Brief: The Asheville Film Society jumps into seasonal mode with Chris and Paul Weitz’s About a Boy (2002) — the film that demonstrated there was a lot more to these guys than Jason Biggs having conjugal relations with baked goods. It’s not, perhaps, standard Christmas season fare, but About a Boy isn’t your standard movie. It’s an unusually serious comedy. It’s also a romantic-comedy that doesn’t get to anything like a romance till it’s more than half over. Anyway, the film includes two Christmas scenes and is about a determinedly shallow womanizer (Hugh Grant) who lives comfortably off the royalties of his late father’s single hit song, “Santa’s Super Sleigh.” (More Christmas movies should be so clever.) Overall, it’s a warm, wonderful film about Grant’s character growing up and finally admitting — in part due to a lonely Christmas viewing of Bride of Frankenstein, but more due to his unwilling involvement with an awkward boy (Nicholas Hoult) with an impossible mother (Toni Collette) — to himself that he needs other people. That it’s also terrifically funny is no small bonus.
Score:

Genre: Comedy-Drama
Director: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Starring: Hugh Grant, Rachel Weisz, Toni Collette, Nicholas Hoult
Rated: PG-13

In About a Boy with Hugh Grant.

 

Based on a popular British novel by Nick Hornby, About a Boy tells the tale of what happens when ultra-shallow 38-year-old (polite snicker at shaving a bit off Grant’s age — even in 2002 — is permissible here) playboy Will Freeman runs afoul of 12-year-old Marcus (Nicholas Hoult). Will is — or thinks he is — the last word in shallowness. He’s content to do nothing but live off the royalties of his one-hit-wonder father’s novelty song (“Santa’s Super Sleigh”), map out his life in 30-minute increments, drift from one insubstantial relationship to another, and worry about keeping his hair “stylishly disheveled.”

 

hugh-grant-punched-by-boy-about-boy-3615844a48ccd67ab72b7a007d4615a6-large-50684

 

His “perfect” world starts unraveling when he hits on the idea that single parent groups are a good place to pick up women (never mind that he isn’t a parent) and through circumstances he finds himself playing father figure to Marcus. The concept is far from new, but the details and the freshness of the presentation make the difference. It also affords Grant one of the best roles of his career, since it deftly combines his standard screen character with the more complex, darker aspects found in his characters in An Awfully Big Adventure and Bridget Jones. The film definitely trades on more than a few cliches, but not in any seriously detrimental way because they are well-used and inventively presented (Will starts to realize how lonely his life is by watching the “Alone bad, friend good” scene in Bride of Frankenstein on Christmas day).

 

about_a_boy_2002_900x589_876087

 

It’s also refreshing that the movie refuses to ever turn into a traditional romantic comedy (the film is at the two-third mark before Grant love interest Rachel Weisz even enters the proceedings). It doesn’t even allow itself the standard romantic happy ending, but a very different happy ending involving what has become Will’s extended family, and it never makes any single person entirely “wrong.” In About a Boy, everyone offers each other something they need in a very astute manner. It’s not perfect (a single brief scene where Will fantasizes he sees his father in a supermarket and then the idea disappears from further references suggests that something more elaborate got lost in post-production), but it’s definitely a fine film — and a worthy addition to the Christmas movie set of titles.

The Asheville Film Society will screen About a Boy Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. in Theater Six at The Carolina Asheville, hosted by Xpress movie critic Ken Hanke.

SHARE
About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.