About a Boy (2002)

Directed by: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz | 101 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Sharon Small, Nicholas Hutchison, Natalia Tena, Laura Kennington, Tanika Swaby, Peter McNicholl, Christopher Webster, Ben Ridgeway, Jack Warren, Russell Barr, Isabel Brook, Orlando Thor Newman

‘About a Boy’ is a clever film adaptation of the eponymous and very amusing book by Nick Hornby. Where in the film versions of Hornby’s books ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘Fever Pitch’ quite a lot has been changed, such as the US as the scene, ‘About a Boy’ is simply set in London.

Will Freeman’s (Grant) credo is that everyone is an island. He divides his time into ‘units’ and seems to have the perfect bachelor life. He has enough money because of the inheritance of his father, who once wrote a successful Christmas song. In a “running gag” during the film, that song (which Will has now come to hate wholeheartedly) keeps coming back.
The beginning is downright hilarious, as Will’s life is outlined with a handful of situations from his life, supported by Grant’s ironic voice-over. After that, the film settles around a pleasant level of “smile-promoting”. And that level is consistently maintained until the end.

After the introduction, Will’s life is followed from his last idea of ​​finding women: finding and seducing cute single moms by pretending to be a single dad. For this he even invents a son, including a child seat in his Porsche.
Then, on an outing, he is saddled with Marcus (Hoult), the son of a mother friend of his date. From that moment on, Will never loses him again. He also becomes involved in the problems of Marcus’ depressed mother Fiona (Collette) and Will discovers about himself that he really doesn’t want to be a shallow asshole. Especially not when he develops feelings for single mother Rachel (Weisz).

Grant is playing his best role yet. He knows how to create a real, believable character and convinces without being the clumsy bumble. Young Hoult puts in a fine performance as the unworldly and unhappy Marcus. Collette is also perfectly cast and radiates both genuine desperation and concern for her son.
Fortunately, the film is not a romantic comedy, but a friendship comedy. Only quite late does a ‘love interest’ appear for Will in the person of Weisz, who only has to be charming and has only a side storyline of its own.

‘About a Boy’ is a film about boys with boy problems. Because the acting and script run smoothly, it has become a very fun and strong comedy, with a handful of well-developed dramatic scenes.
If the film then inevitably ends well and the lives of the main characters are more in order, the viewer will be genuinely happy for these people. And so is the most important lesson: no one is an island.