Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageAbout a Boy (2002)
Director: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
What's surprising about this film are its writer/directors, who previously made American Pie, and the fact that one of its five producers is De Niro, whose Tribeca optioned Nick Hornby's book. Otherwise, it's all you'd expect of a Working Title Britfilm (light, cannily international); of a Hugh Grant comedy (gently rather than raucously funny); and of a Hornby cautionary tale about a self-centred male attaining belated maturity through love's discovery. The difference here is that the catalyst for change is a child, not a woman. If Grant appears a touch uncomfortable as rich but relatively downmarket slacker and womaniser Will, he remains adept with amusing asides and flustered emotions. Indeed, the performances are mostly fine. The problem, besides occasionally clumsy editing and direction, is the story. For anyone familiar with Hornby and Grant's past fare, it's deeply predictable. Furthermore, Hornby's crises and characters can be so facile, schematic and smugly moralistic that emotional substance can get overshadowed by fluff.Author: GA
User reviews of this film
-
- Poppy said...
- Posted on Jan 18 2009 17:46 Best Grant film and a favourite of mine. Actually bothered to buy it on doovde. Hilarious and touching.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Rachel Xo. said...
- Posted on Aug 02 2008 22:55 my full time favourite film of all time! best film EVER!!!!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- al said...
- Posted on Jul 01 2007 15:00 this is the best film i've ever seen. I fully reccomend it to anyone. THis is the best Hugh grant film EVER !!!
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz
Producer: Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Brad Epstein, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Cast: Hugh Grant, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Isabel Brook, Sharon Small, Victoria Smurfit, Nicholas Hoult full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now