Contains Spoilers
Hugh Grant is generally associated in the public mind with one particular type of character- the ineffectual and foppish but likable upper-class or upper-middle-class English gentleman, often the hero of a romantic comedy as in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' or 'Notting Hill'. In recent years, however, he seems to have been trying to broaden is range somewhat. David Grant in 'Small Time Crooks' and Daniel Cleaver in 'Bridget Jones's Diary', although both were drawn from the same privileged background as most of his other roles, were both unsympathetic characters whose outwardly genial nature concealed a selfish and mercenary nature.
In 'About a Boy', the film he made immediately after those two, Grant was clearly trying to extend his range a little further. The character he plays here, Will Freeman, is quite open about his defects. Will is in his late thirties but has never done any work since leaving school. He has a private income in the form of royalties from a novelty Christmas song written by his father, an otherwise unsuccessful songwriter who had one smash hit. He lives in a smart London flat and idles away his time watching telephone, playing snooker and listening to music. His relationships with women are confined to brief affairs, because he has a horror of any form of emotional commitment. Hearing John Donne's famous quotation that 'No Man is an Island', Will remarks that he is an island and happy to be one.
Although Will has never been married and has no children, he joins a single-parent support group (as its only male member) in order to meet women, believing that single mothers will be easy to seduce. He invents a false story to the effect that he was abandoned by his (non-existent) wife, leaving him to bring up a (non-existent) three-year-old son on his own.He starts to change, however, when he is befriended by Marcus, the twelve-year-old son of one of the women in the group. Marcus's mother, Fiona, is both eccentric and depressive, a sort of latter-day hippie with suicidal tendencies. Marcus is an only child, deeply attached to and protective of his mother, and has grown up a shy, sensitive boy. He is bullied at school by his classmates who see him as weak and 'uncool'. After Fiona makes an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Marcus latches on to Will, seeing him as a substitute father-figure. The film can be seen as the story of how the childish Will learns to be an adult and how Marcus, a boy old before his time, learns to be a child.
All the main parts are well played. Although this is not Hugh Grant's most amusing role, it is more psychologically complex than most of his other romantic comedy parts, as Will's character undergoes considerable development. He progresses from the belief that every man is an island to the realisation that even islands can be a part of an archipelago. Toni Collette as Fiona and the lovely Rachel Weisz as Will's love-interest Rachel are both excellent, but the real revelation was the young Nicholas Hoult as the strange and solemn but appealing Marcus. One of the most interesting themes in the film was the way in which it inverted the standard clichés about rebellious youth and convention-bound adults. Marcus attends the sort of middle-class school where the pupils are desperate to gain street credibility by imitating what they imagine (probably inaccurately) to be working-class mores, particularly the mores of working-class black Americans. Lace-up shoes are out; trainers, especially expensive ones, are in. Rap music is cool; Roberta Flack is social death. The youngsters doubtless see their tastes as representing rebellion against adult values, but any rebellion against their own system of values is punished by merciless mockery or bullying. Marcus's predicament is that he is caught between his love for his determinedly nonconformist mother and his desire for popularity with his conformist schoolmates, and Nicholas Hoult was able to suggest both these sides of his personality.
Despite some good acting, pertinent social comment and an occasionally witty script, I did not find the plot altogether convincing. I was interested to note that Brad Pitt turned down the role of Will because he found it difficult to believe that a good-looking, wealthy, eligible bachelor would need to lie his way into a single-parent group in order to meet women- interested, because my reaction to this part of the film was exactly the same as Mr Pitt's. I found this whole idea, central to the film's plot, completely implausible, especially as all the women involved had been emotionally scarred by bad experiences with men and would have run a mile from anyone like Will who was only interested in using them for casual sex. I also found it difficult to believe in aspects of Fiona's character; she is supposed to be too poor to buy her son expensive trainers or a CD player, even though she lives in a smart Victorian townhouse in a fashionable district of London. (This is one of those films where differences in interior decorating tastes are used to make a point about differences in character. Fiona's warm, comfortable 'retro' look contrasts with the bare, minimalist décor of Will's flat, suggesting that she is warm-hearted if eccentric, while he is cold and superficial. A similar device is used in other films, such as 'Fatal Attraction' and 'Sleeping with the Enemy').
I was, however, pleased to see that the film-makers resisted the temptation to end the film the way Hollywood would probably have ended it, with Will marrying Fiona. Although this is obviously what Marcus would prefer, they are too obviously incompatible to make such an ending plausible. The British cinema is sometimes criticised for its sentimentality, but it can also on occasions be tough-minded. 6/10
Hugh Grant is generally associated in the public mind with one particular type of character- the ineffectual and foppish but likable upper-class or upper-middle-class English gentleman, often the hero of a romantic comedy as in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' or 'Notting Hill'. In recent years, however, he seems to have been trying to broaden is range somewhat. David Grant in 'Small Time Crooks' and Daniel Cleaver in 'Bridget Jones's Diary', although both were drawn from the same privileged background as most of his other roles, were both unsympathetic characters whose outwardly genial nature concealed a selfish and mercenary nature.
In 'About a Boy', the film he made immediately after those two, Grant was clearly trying to extend his range a little further. The character he plays here, Will Freeman, is quite open about his defects. Will is in his late thirties but has never done any work since leaving school. He has a private income in the form of royalties from a novelty Christmas song written by his father, an otherwise unsuccessful songwriter who had one smash hit. He lives in a smart London flat and idles away his time watching telephone, playing snooker and listening to music. His relationships with women are confined to brief affairs, because he has a horror of any form of emotional commitment. Hearing John Donne's famous quotation that 'No Man is an Island', Will remarks that he is an island and happy to be one.
Although Will has never been married and has no children, he joins a single-parent support group (as its only male member) in order to meet women, believing that single mothers will be easy to seduce. He invents a false story to the effect that he was abandoned by his (non-existent) wife, leaving him to bring up a (non-existent) three-year-old son on his own.He starts to change, however, when he is befriended by Marcus, the twelve-year-old son of one of the women in the group. Marcus's mother, Fiona, is both eccentric and depressive, a sort of latter-day hippie with suicidal tendencies. Marcus is an only child, deeply attached to and protective of his mother, and has grown up a shy, sensitive boy. He is bullied at school by his classmates who see him as weak and 'uncool'. After Fiona makes an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Marcus latches on to Will, seeing him as a substitute father-figure. The film can be seen as the story of how the childish Will learns to be an adult and how Marcus, a boy old before his time, learns to be a child.
All the main parts are well played. Although this is not Hugh Grant's most amusing role, it is more psychologically complex than most of his other romantic comedy parts, as Will's character undergoes considerable development. He progresses from the belief that every man is an island to the realisation that even islands can be a part of an archipelago. Toni Collette as Fiona and the lovely Rachel Weisz as Will's love-interest Rachel are both excellent, but the real revelation was the young Nicholas Hoult as the strange and solemn but appealing Marcus. One of the most interesting themes in the film was the way in which it inverted the standard clichés about rebellious youth and convention-bound adults. Marcus attends the sort of middle-class school where the pupils are desperate to gain street credibility by imitating what they imagine (probably inaccurately) to be working-class mores, particularly the mores of working-class black Americans. Lace-up shoes are out; trainers, especially expensive ones, are in. Rap music is cool; Roberta Flack is social death. The youngsters doubtless see their tastes as representing rebellion against adult values, but any rebellion against their own system of values is punished by merciless mockery or bullying. Marcus's predicament is that he is caught between his love for his determinedly nonconformist mother and his desire for popularity with his conformist schoolmates, and Nicholas Hoult was able to suggest both these sides of his personality.
Despite some good acting, pertinent social comment and an occasionally witty script, I did not find the plot altogether convincing. I was interested to note that Brad Pitt turned down the role of Will because he found it difficult to believe that a good-looking, wealthy, eligible bachelor would need to lie his way into a single-parent group in order to meet women- interested, because my reaction to this part of the film was exactly the same as Mr Pitt's. I found this whole idea, central to the film's plot, completely implausible, especially as all the women involved had been emotionally scarred by bad experiences with men and would have run a mile from anyone like Will who was only interested in using them for casual sex. I also found it difficult to believe in aspects of Fiona's character; she is supposed to be too poor to buy her son expensive trainers or a CD player, even though she lives in a smart Victorian townhouse in a fashionable district of London. (This is one of those films where differences in interior decorating tastes are used to make a point about differences in character. Fiona's warm, comfortable 'retro' look contrasts with the bare, minimalist décor of Will's flat, suggesting that she is warm-hearted if eccentric, while he is cold and superficial. A similar device is used in other films, such as 'Fatal Attraction' and 'Sleeping with the Enemy').
I was, however, pleased to see that the film-makers resisted the temptation to end the film the way Hollywood would probably have ended it, with Will marrying Fiona. Although this is obviously what Marcus would prefer, they are too obviously incompatible to make such an ending plausible. The British cinema is sometimes criticised for its sentimentality, but it can also on occasions be tough-minded. 6/10