Willa's Flic Pic: About A Boy * * * *

About A Boy
2002, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Drama, Comedy
* * * *

Christine: You will end up childless and alone.
Will: Well, fingers crossed, yeah.
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Christine: Oh, no... it's just I thought you had hidden depths.
Will: No, no, you've always had that wrong about me. I really am this shallow.

In my review of High Fidelity I mentioned About A Boy since the same author, Nick Hornby, wrote it. While I'm in the Nick Hornby/romantic comedy mood, I decided to go ahead and write on About A Boy also.

Will (Hugh Grant) is a rich, handsome, immature thirty-something whose only occupation is watching television, buying things and getting laid. He wants no relationships with anyone, including himself because "Once you open your door to one person anyone can come in." This is all threatened when, in desperation, a lonely boy picks Will as his male role model and friend.

The next female demographic that Will decides to exploit is single moms. On one of Will's single mom dates, she brings along her baby and 12-year old Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), the son of a single mom friend. He's a strange boy of unusual self-confidence and maturity. When dropping Marcus off at his flat they discover a terrible accident that causes Marcus to emotionally attach himself to the unattachable, unwilling Will.

As in High Fidelity, we watch the budding of a cad into a promising adult human. The bonus in About A Boy is watching Marcus brave the world of bullies, an unstable mother and first love more bravely than the adults around him. This film has as much wit as High Fidelity with added warmth. I enjoy watching Hugh Grant play a jerk much more than the million-dollar-smile, aw-shucks guy in Notting Hill or Sense and Sensibility. The juxtaposition of his tousled good looks to his smarmy pursuit of women is interesting and wickedly fun.

There are great performances all around including Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) as the single mom of a very angry boy and Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense) as Marcus' mother. A safe date movie. Passionate kisses, innuendo, lots of humor, and a guys perspective keeps this from being a unbearable Drew Barrymore-esque chic flic.