I just watched my favorite movie again, for, oh, about the fifth time--and I rarely like a film enough to sit through it again. But About a Boy just keeps on charming, nearly three years after its release. In Spiderman's shadow, it made little splash, so if you missed it, it's definitely worth a trip to the back aisles of the video store.
This time, I recognized some places I'd been to: Regent's Park, the London Zoo, Sainsbury's. (I haven't seen Hugh Grant hanging round the canned goods, but it's probably only a matter of time.)
About a Boy is adapted from the book of the same name by Nick Hornby. Because I didn't much care for High Fidelity--too much thirty-something-white-guy angst for my taste--I didn't think I was a Nick Hornby fan. But here he adds dimension to the guy-flick, cleverly portraying one man's desperate attempts to be an island, the star of the Will Show; and one boy's equally desperate attempts to invade that island and save his mum. Fiona (Toni Collette), the suicidal vegetarian mother, reminds me of myself, without the pills. Fortunately, my children constantly remind me not to wear goofy hats, and refuse to eat Ancient Grains cereal, so they've been spared that awkward children-of-weirdos phase.
Will (Hugh Grant) is living every man's dream life: he's the cruise director of his own shallow-sailing ship, so he imagines, living purely for the entertainment value life offers, however pathetic. With no need for income, he watches Countdown on a widescreen TV all day and searches for porn on his Mac. Having his hair "carefully disheveled" is on the agenda, but becoming buds with a nerdy 12-year-old boy isn't, until Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) forces his way in, literally, to the tune of a throbbing U2 drumbeat.
Marcus has serious problems--his clothes are unhip, his haircut dorky, and he sings abruptly in class. And his mother cries all the time. Meanwhile, Will, desperate to get shagged, has figured out the way to meet women is to join a single parents' group. No matter he hasn't a son; one is quickly invented, and Fiona's friend Suzie (Victoria Smurfit) is duly charmed. During an outing with Suzie, Will covers for Marcus's inadvertent duck-slaying, and the two bond. Well, they sort of grin at each other--bonding takes a bit more time, as well it should. Both these guys have issues, neither is particularly likable, but both are entirely lovable.
The Black Moment for Will comes when his budding relationship with Rachel (Rachel Weisz) dissolves, and he realizes he actually misses his afternoon visits from Marcus. They've somehow become friends, despite Will's shallowness and Marcus's near-terminal dorkiness. (We novelists use Black Moments all the time, but the audience is rarely aware of them. This is the moment when the protagonist has hit rock bottom, and unless he or she takes some action to change things--we call this "Going into the Cave for the Elixer"--life will continue as is, and the movie will suck.)
This leads directly to my favorite movie moment of all time. I won't spoil the fun, but if you've never seen the movie, forget I warned you--just try to relax and let it slip up on you. (But you'll want to make sure you've been to the loo recently.)
About a Boy is a rare thing--a truly funny movie, that also has a message, even if it's a shallow "don't be shallow" one. There are no cheap laughs--okay, there are a few--but even they're funnier than just about anything with Reese Witherspoon. (The Importance of Being Earnest excepted.)
I'm also happy to report that no ducks were harmed in the making of this movie. (I promise, they're doing as well as ever, swimming in Boating Lake and fowling the paths. But I'll check again.)
If you rent the DVD, be sure and watch the music videos featuring Badly Drawn Boy and the duck. They're worth the price alone. About A Boy is rated PG-13, and contains words like "bugger" and "sod".
