Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1680 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

Suprisingly good!
Having bought this DVD a couple of years ago because it came in a set with Love Actually and Notting Hill, I have only just gotten round to watching it. And my have I been missing out? About a boy is an incredible film and will appeal to all ages and both genders. Great family viewing as it is not littered with swearing like the majority of films around and no cringy 'oh my god i can't believe i'm watching this with my children/ parents' moments!
All in all a fantastic performance from Hugh Grant, and a wonderful feel-good comedy (which is actually funny) that i am sure to watch again and again... just maybe not as much as i watch Love Actually cos that would be impossible!
Highly recommended

Not Hugh Grant's Finest Offering
If you're a Hugh Grant fan (which I am) then this is an enjoyable enough film but it doesn't rank with the likes of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" or "Notting Hill". If you're not a Grant fan then you'll probably loathe it. It's difficult to have any sympathy with Grant's character and the rest of the cast (with the possible exception of Rachel Weisz) aren't that engaging. I'm not sure if that's down to the casting, acting or writing but somewhere the chemistry went missing (or failed to arrive). My recommendation: watch it when it comes round on TV rather than spend your hard earned cash on the DVD.

Most enjoyable
A very amusing, wistful, typical British movie. Hugh Grant plays the lead, a self-centered, well off, (his father wrote a best selling xmas song from which he lives off of the royalties) lazy, batchelor, who is simply out to conquer attractive women and then move on when he thinks the relationship is getting to intense. When he finally falls for Rachel Weisz, he weaves a web of half truths (lies!) that backfire on him just when he thinks he has found the "one".The actor who plays the "boy" is great and is the catalyst that shoves Grant firmly into the real world of relationships, from which he has hitherto avoided. The scene where in order to rescue the young lad from making a fool of himself at his school concert, he comes on playing guitar, thus helping him to sing "Killing me Softly" and when it goes better than expected, cannot resist continuing beyond a sensible point, is brilliant.
The soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy is very good and goes perfectly with the film. A good adaptation of a Nick Hornby book which is enjoyable for many more than just one viewing. Oh and remember "single parents, together, forever!" watch you'll understand.