• Post category:Movies
  • Post last modified:March 29, 2021

About a Boy

GROWING UP HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AGE.

aboutaboyActually, it’s about two boys. Hugh Grant plays a character that one presumes is close to him – a self-centered thirtysomething who is too busy enjoying life on the singles scene to long for a family, but is accidentally drawn into the lives of a hippie mom (Toni Collette) and her son (Nicholas Hoult). Grant’s performance is peerless and the relationship he’s building with the 12-year-old feels natural and void of sentimentality; it’s fun to see how compatible their childish attitudes are. Collette is also very good and the directors do an excellent job, delivering a film in the vein of Richard Curtis’s romantic comedies.

2002-Britain-U.S.-Germany-France. 101 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Brad Epstein, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal. Directed by Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz. Screenplay: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Peter Hedges. Novel: Nick Hornby. Cast: Hugh Grant (Will Freeman), Toni Collette (Fiona), Rachel Weisz (Rachel), Nicholas Hoult (Marcus), Victoria Smurfit. 

Trivia: Brad Pitt was allegedly considered for the part of Will; Emma Thompson for another role. Followed by a TV series, About a Boy (2014-2015).

Quote: “I’d be the worst possible godfather. I’d probably drop her on her head at her christening. I’d forget all her birthdays until she was 18. Then I’d take her out and get her drunk. And, let’s face it, quite possibly try and shag her.” (Grant)

Last word: “When we were looking for directors their names came up and I thought that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life, because although I actually do love ‘American Pie’, that’s my kind of sense of humour really, I thought that this was my classy project so I thought they were the wrong choice. But then in fact the weird thing is that when you meet them, they are very intellectual. There’s a weird combination of being intellectual with a sense of humour of a six year old, which is actually appropriate to Nick Hornby and appropriate to this material. Plus they were very keen to keep the whole thing British, and I was being very strict about that. And Chris was educated in England and gets all those details so it was in fact a no-brainer.” (Grant, Film Scouts)

 

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