About a Boy (***1/2)
review by Jon Waterman

Will wants nothing more than to keep living his life in ease.  Living off the royalties of a song his father wrote, he spends the units of his day watching television and finding new ways to get girls.  He soon discovers that single mothers are the easiest, least emotionally draining dates around.  However, one of these dates introduces him to a little boy named Marcus, and his life may never be the same.
 
This film is really about a couple of boys (as the title’s double meaning suggests).  Will (Hugh Grant) spends his non-working days lounging around and going from woman to woman.  He has no desire to settle down and start a family.  His friends all see him as unusual for thinking this way, but Will is perfectly happy.  Or so he thought.  There’s nothing wrong with Will’s lifestyle, but he can’t help but think that something is obviously missing.  Marcus’ mother is clinically depressed and so he lives in fear that she will try to take her life again, because he can’t always be there to look after her.  Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) can’t help but think that something is obviously missing.
 
The film (and script – by Peter Hedges and directors Chris and Paul Weitz) brilliantly plays off of the similarities and differences of the two male leads.  However, the film is more than a simple compare/contrast story.  The two come together and learn from each other forming a bond that blurs the line that divides them.  The digital wipes that transition the stories are off-putting, but they only last for a couple seconds each and it’s right back to the good stuff.  The script (adapted from a Nick Hornby novel) is hilariously scathing.  Will pulls no punches when talking to friends, people he just met and most importantly, himself.  The jokes are mingled in with the dramatic side of life and the script is able to flip the emotional switch on and off without risk of a bulb burning out.
 
It’s no surprise that Hugh Grant is in a comedy with heart, but he plays the part better than most people out there.  Toni Collette (as Marcus’ mother) shows the most range, but her limited screen presence didn’t leave her much of a chance to impress me.  Nicholas Hoult has time and room to grow as an actor, but a lot of respect is due to any twelve year old that can carry such a large roll so well.
 
“About A Boy” is about the best narrative comedy this year has seen.  It has substance and plenty of laughs.  It has a great understated, yet prominent score by Badly Drawn Boy (if that makes sense).  It has good acting and looks good.  About what more could you want?

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