Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2998 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-12-02
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The film version of Nick Hornby's novel About a Boy takes a deeper though no less entertaining approach than the easy laughs of Fever Pitch and High Fidelity. The "coming together" of idle playboy Will (Hugh Grant) and put-upon loner Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) is a revealing tale of self-understanding and role reversal. Will finds that being yourself is of little consequence without a defining human context, while Marcus finds that pleasing others counts for little without a degree of self-confidence. How they arrive at this complementary awareness is the intriguing subject matter of the film, involving well-meaning single mothers, difficult adolescents and helpless older adults. Yet there's a wider significance to all this in the guise of human stereotypes--how we fall into them and how we can try to get out of them.

The film's wit and amusement comes down to deft and understated directing from Chris and Paul Weitz, and a snappily crafted screenplay from Peter Hedges and the Weitz brothers. Grant clips his hair as well as his vowels for a believable and ultimately sympathetic Will--by far his best performance since Four Weddings and a Funeral. As Marcus, Hoult is convincingly self-dependent, but could have been even more self-absorbed. Toni Colette is a dead-ringer for the well-meaning but ineffectual hippie mother Fiona, while Rachel Weisz gives her best screen performance to date as the attractive and vulnerable Rachel, with whom Will comes of age emotionally. Badly Drawn Boy's soundtrack will delight those who enjoy his brand of reconstituted 1970s Dylan; the title track has a wistful charm and there's a gem of an instrumental in the "Countdown" sequence. About a Boy is in the best traditions of British comedy: enlightening as it amuses, it's a film to enjoy and come back to. --Richard Whitehouse

Special Features

• Feature Commentary with Chris and Paul Weitz
  • Making of About A Boy
    
  • Deleted Scenes with Director’s Commentary
    
  • Badly Drawn Boy music videos
    
  • Born in the UK- Interview with Badly Drawn Boy
    
  • DVD-ROM Features

  DVD Technical Information:
  

  • Running Time: 97 minutes
    
  • Region Code: 2
    
  • Widescreen
    
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35 Anamorphic
    
  • Soundtrack Language: Dolby Digital 5.1: English
    
  • Subtitles: English, English for the Hearing Impaired

Synopsis
ABOUT A BOY, directed by Chris and Paul Weitz, stars Hugh Grant as Will Freeman, a proudly self-absorbed 38-year-old Londoner. Living lavishly off the royalties from a hit Christmas song penned by his father, Will excels at nothing except doing nothing, which, in his case, includes shopping for CDs and having his hair "professionally disheveled." When Will makes a guilt-free exit from a brief fling with a single mom, he decides to crash a meeting of S.P.A.T. (Single Parents, Alone Together) in pursuit of more single mothers. This scheme leads to meeting Suzie (Victoria Smurfit) and Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), the socially awkward 12-year-old son of her flaky best friend, Fiona (Toni Collette). A series of odd situations leads to Will and Marcus becoming unlikely friends, and gradually both of their lives start to change for the better. However, when Will falls for the lovely Rachel (Rachel Weisz) and attempts to pass Marcus off as his son, things go awry. In order to win the heart of Rachel and make amends with Marcus, Will must finally grow up--and completely embarrass himself in front of hundreds of people.
Reveling in its characters' quirks and flaws, ABOUT A BOY is a smart, funny, and fast-paced comedy, meticulously crafted by the Weitz brothers. Grant, in possibly the best performance of his career, wisely covers his patented charm with a shallow facade, and Hoult avoids being too cute or precocious; instead, the two actors develop believable characters that grudgingly warm up to each other. Collette is suitably bizarre as a depressed hippie mother, and Weisz provides excellent support in her relatively small role. However, it's clear from the title that this film is about the boys. And that includes Badly Drawn Boy (aka Damon Gough) who contributes an outstanding soundtrack that recalls Simon and Garfunkel's work on THE GRADUATE. Given Nick Hornby's excellent source material, ABOUT A BOY could have easily been an enjoyable movie, but in the hands of its talented collaborators, it's a truly exceptional tale.

Customer Reviews

great story/moral: Twice viewed, will watch it again!
Are you a man or a woman? How old are you? Both of these may effect how this film impacts you. I'm a 32 year old unmarried man, and so caught the brunt of this film's message (I assume the protagonist is not far from his mid-30s, and he's _very_ male and _very_ unmarried). But I know at least one woman who really enjoyed this film as well, so you don't have to be in my demographic to get a kick from it.

Overall, an excellent movie. Let's start simple: the soundtrack. It was so good I almost bought it! However I'm not really a "soundtrack buyer" type person, so I didn't in the end. But it's got a great bunch of songs in the movie anyway, and they seemed to fit in perfectly with the story.

Next: the genre. What type of movie is this? Well it's not what I'd call a romantic comedy. It is more comedy than romantic - in fact it is very very funny. Although there is a romance in this movie, it is more a romance of the "self" - the main character coming to love and hate parts of himself he wasn't even conscious of. The main relationship in the movie is between the man, and the boy who comes into his life. And, by the way, the portrayal of the boy by Nicholas Hoult is absolutely brilliant and scarily convincing. And Hugh Grant is perfect, with his part being closer to his Bridget Jones days than his 4 Weddings days. Toni Collette, as the boy's mother, is just fabulous. Apart from the relationship between the boy and the man, the relationship between the boy and his mother is the other important one in the movie: and it is heart-rending, heart-warming, frustrating, and quite realistic.

When I say “heart-rending”, in relation to this movie, I mean it. Either I am emotionally unstable (probably) or this movie is very touching (definitely). I had to hold back my tears a number of times and at the end just had to give in to the old water works. Hugh Grant's character is torn apart and rebuilt in the crucible of a forced growing up, brought on by the boy coming into his life. "About a Boy" talks to men like myself in an almost subconscious way - I found myself moved by things and not knowing why. But I just knew it was important. And the resolution and finale on stage was just brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Bravo Hugh!

I've watched this movie twice and will probably do so again. I feel it has a real message for myself and says something significant. And it's great fun to watch!

A quick footnote: I'm actually a fan of Nick Hornby (he wrote the book the movie was based on). If you are a Nick Hornby fan I strongly recommend you see this movie. Forget the half-hearted attempts made to bring "High Fidelity" on to the screen. This one is the real thing! It really brings the book to life - it is definitely a "Nick Hornby Film", if you know what I mean.

Another film adaptation of a book, and another Grant vehicle
Grant plays, Will, a rich, lazy and irresponsible 38 year old, with little better to occupy his time than a daily dose of Countdown and chasing women. He strikes upon the idea of meeting single-mums, his rational being that they are easy prey and as a result of one of his liaisons, his life becomes complicated by the introduction of Marcus. Marcus, (Nicholas Hoult) is a twelve year old with a lot of problems on his hands, he is bullied and laughed at school, his hippy-ish, vegan mother has tried to kill herself and permanently looks like she is on the verge of doing it again, but his outlook is surprisingly mature. He strikes up a sort of friendship with Will and what entails is a charming tale of how man educates boy, and in turn boy unwittingly educates man.

Much had been made of Hugh Grant's new haircut for the film, gone the floppy fringe and in it's place a new spikier messed up look. Well he may have a new haircut, but he is as likeable as ever, playing something slightly sharper and more complex than the amiable buffoon and delivering an excellent performance. Hoult as Marcus makes an adequate if slightly unspectacular debut, but there is good support from the ever dependable Toni Collette, Victoria Smurfitt and Rachel Weisz. The Badly Drawn Boy soundtrack is excellent even if towards the end the songs begin to sound a little over-familiar.

Overall, I think Hornby can be pleased that his book has been reasonably faithfully interpreted. A few minor changes have occurred (from what I can remember of the book) but as a film by itself, this is a frequently amusing, interesting, bitter sweet drama that is perfect for a night in with the girlfriend.

Touching, real and witty: pretty much got it all
As expected, this movie can be filed alongside the Four Weddings and Notting Hills of this world - and it's worthy of the comparisons. But where it differs from its predecessors is in its dealings with downbeat topics like lonliness and suicide. And this gives a lovely realness to the story that the others just don't have.

The main pull for this film has to be Hugh Grant and you'll be glad to hear that he doesn't disappoint. This role sees another of his cracks at a rough-and-ready, rouguish character and he plays the part well. He's more rounded a character than ever and will probably appeal as equally to male viewers as female....just in case you're a bloke who's having second thoughts.

If you have a sensitive side - and surely we all do - this could be your film. It's a heart-felt picture of one's lonliness as a boy and another's loneliness as a man, arguing that we all need friends, at least at some points of our lives. Its beauty is in its English-style subtlety. There are some truly difficult subjects touched on here, but each is explored without over-egging the point. You can be reassured that this is one film that hasn't sold its soul to the American cinema public. And I hope you see that as the compliment it's meant to be.

So if you're looking for a touching story with an English-style wit, this could be it. With the bonus of a cracking soundtrack from Badly Drawn Boy, it deserves to be a Christmas hit.