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Anyway, in About a Boy you get to relive all the fun
things about being a single bloke while allowing your partner
to tut-tut at the 'awful' attitudes of 38-year-old bachelor
Will (Hugh Grant).
He has a wonderful life. He doesn't need to work, courtesy
of the royalties from a massive hit song his Dad wrote in
the late 50s, divides his days up into blocks for TV, drinking,
getting his hair cut and meeting girls.
His friends, particularly the females, think he's shallow
and Will doesn't have any dramas at all with such a label.
In fact, he revels in it as he doesn't have to pretend to
be anything else. That is until he decides that he can "pull
more birds" by attending single-parent functions and
pretending he's got a youngster.
That gets him entangled pretty quickly and one of the by-products
is he meets a troubled 12-year-old boy Marcus (Nicholas Hoult),
who is desperate to have a back-up for his loving but loony
mother, Fiona (Toni Collette).
Marcus takes to going to Will's place uninvited and hanging
out while the big kid does what he does. Soon a bit of a relationship
forms and while Will has no time for Fiona, he becomes quite
attached to the kid.
We won't ruin the plot here, but it isn't what you'd expect.
Grant is just sensational as Will and every chap will love
his hedonistic view on life. Nicholas Hoult is utterly marvellous
as Marcus and this lad shows one hell of a lot of ability
at a young age.
Collette is also excellent, but I found her fragile mum bordering
on the painful, and watch out for Rachel (The Mummy)
Weisz.
Now some people may point to About a Boy as being
an indictment on the terrible modern world in which we live.
How people's struggles and unhappiness are ignored as people
become more selfish. Well, I see it another way. I see it
as an indictment upon a society where people are forced to
apologise for not conforming with what everyone thinks they
should be.
The transfer of About a Boy is nothing short of brilliant,
with perfect clarity, colour and sharpness. The sound is spot
on. This is a terrific movie and will suit both sections of
the household.
Conclusion: 90% Extras: 0%
Continued:
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