MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:42 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
| About a Boy Movie Stats & Links |
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| Starring: | Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Victoria Smurfit |
| MPAA Rated: | PG-13 |
| Released By: | Universal Pictures |
| Kiddie Movie: | It’s really an adult story although rated PG-13. There’s some swearing too. |
| Date Movie: | She’ll make you come along, but you might actually like it. |
| Gratuitous Sex: | Nah. |
| Gratuitous Violence: | Some adult themes, but only the kid gets picked on. |
| Action: | Nah. |
| Laughs: | Funny pokes at the life of a bachelor-man. |
| Memorable Scene: | None totally stand out. |
| Memorable Quote: | Too many to list. |
| Directed By: | Paul Weitz & Chris Weitz |
| Produced By: | Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Brad Epstein, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner |
Sometimes a movie that is, well, just enjoyable comes along. For me that movie is “About a Boy.”
In this one you get Hugh Grant playing Will, the consummate bachelor. He stays away from any long-term relationship but is always up for the short-term, sex but no commitment type of pairing. He doesn’t have to work because of royalties from his father’s goofy Christmas song, although he isn’t particularly fond of this fact, but his friends think it is time for Will to commit to someone.
Oddly enough, Will hooks up with a divorced woman, with child, and by pretending to actually like the kid, and the mom, she falls hook, line, and sinker. Then she realizes Will isn’t her marrying material and breaks up with Will. For Will this is heaven – he has now found a way to hook up with women, pretend to like their kids, sleep with mom, and mom will break up with him instead of the awkward Will having to break up with the woman. Thinking this is an easy thing, he goes to a support group of divorced moms with kids, pretending to be a divorced dad who can’t see his kid, and hooks up with Suzie (Victoria Smurfit), who brings along Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), the son of Fiona (Toni Collette), who has some depression problems.
But Marcus is looking for a father-figure, and with Will pretending to be one, Marcus hooks on to him, thinking that if he can get Will together with his mom, well, mom won’t cry anymore.
Alright, this is starting to get a little to complicated, and I don’t want to give anymore of the story away, so let’s just say Will opens himself up to actually having feelings for a woman, enough so that he wants to be with her and not just for sex.
What’s great about this movie is the transformation of Will, from the “using” women kind of bachelor to a dude who has the potential to be a good dad and actually be a husband – and Hugh Grant does a great job at showing this transformation. Also great in this movie is Nicholas Hoult as Marcus. He is the kid at school who gets picked on, mostly because he just loves his mom, and is looking for a role-model to teach him how to be accepted by the rest of his schoolmates. Mom doesn’t have a clue, Will does, and Will realizes he is the last hope for Marcus to be accepted in an environment filled with putting people down – high school.
“About a Boy” was advertised as almost a romantic comedy, but that doesn’t do this movie justice because it isn’t one. Sure, Will wants to hook up with Rachel (Rachel Weisz), and who wouldn’t? Marcus teaches Will as much as Will teaches Marcus, and it’s just a fun movie of a bachelor man infused into a relationship with a boy looking for something of a dad. I laughed, I didn’t really cry, but I left enjoying this movie as much more than a romantic comedy. It’s 4 stars out of 5 for “About a Boy.”
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!