I am at most moments e Hugh Grant fan. He is enjoyable. He is charming. He can mix it up with a variety of characters.
I love to hate Hugh Grant.
With that caveat in mind, let me tell you about ABOUT A BOY, the 2002 slightly (un)traditional film based on a book by Nick Hornby. What book? I'm guessing it wasn't the DaVinci Code.
From the director of AMERICAN PIE, comes a story that isn't a love story, but is still a romantic comedy. Sure, boy (Hugh Grant) meets girl (Rachel Weisz), does something to mess it up and ultimately redeems himself, but this is just a side plot.
The main romance would be called a bromance in the post-I LOVE YOU MAN era, but really its a father/son movie.
Grant basically plays a guy who find out he has a kid (13-year-old Nicholas Hoult), or better yet, decides it would be advantageous if he had a kid. At the same time, though, Hoult is looking for a third family member, and he just doesn't realize it's a father figure he wants.
Through a long, and somewhat predictable journey, Grant and Hoult fall for each other (but in a non-molestation kind of way)...
I found myself talking through most of this movie, whether it was guessing lines or yelling at the Toni Collette character, who could basically be described as the anti-Dave Lombardo. She is a vegetarian, dresses like she lives at a Grateful Dead and has a world view that is so skewed she must be perpetually high. To say I hated her would be an insult to the people I hate, because I love them in comparison.
Collette plays the mother of Hoult, and she should have her parental rights stripped, because (spoiler alert) she tries to kill herself. But fear not Hoult, because in England, that just means you spend the night with a friend until you can go back to caring for your mum!
So yeah, I found all of this insufferable, and the voice overs from Hoult and Grant didn't help much either.
Basically, my admiration for the movie stemmed from how realistic it was. It captured a friendship based on mutual need in a very non-gimmicky manner that appealed to me. Sure, there was the eventual grand gesture, when Grant plays guitar with Hoult during a concert.
But there were lots of nice moments, like when Hoult got a CD and announced that they didn't have a CD player or every time Grant confronted Collette about her terrible parenting skills.
I need to give credit to Grant, who was able to play a different character for once in his life. He wasn't particularly charming, but a flawed bum, who may not have been completed by the presence of Hoult in his life, but still found some meaning. He wasn't made whole and the audience wasn't convinced to fall for him unconditionally, which was nice.
Hoult also needs to be noticed as an upcoming star in this movie. He does sincerity very well and can be mature or naive at a believable balance. Maybe his character's instant evolution is a little unrealistic, since someone under Collete's roof would need to grow a lot to out grow her influence. Not sure if he has become anything since this role, because I don't remember him in the superiorly awful WEATHERMAN.
Would I recommend this movie? Yeah, reluctantly. I only say reluctantly because I think Hugh Grant fans will be slightly disappointed with this non-stereotypical role and I think anti-Hugh Grant fans won't be able to stomach this almost mainstream movie.
But if you've got 101 minutes to kill and know you have a soft spot in your heart (maybe check that out?), then this could be the movie for you. At the same time, better versions of this movie exist, including FINDING FORESTER, SCENT OF A WOMAN and LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (even though it doesn't really count). />
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