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About a Boy (film)

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About a Boy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay by
Based onAbout a Boy
by Nick Hornby
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRemi Adefarasin
Edited byNick Moore
Music byBadly Drawn Boy
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 26 April 2002 (2002-04-26) (United Kingdom)
  • 17 May 2002 (2002-05-17) (United States)
  • 22 August 2002 (2002-08-22) (Germany)
  • 12 November 2002 (2002-11-12) (France)
Running time
101 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Germany[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[3]
Box office$130.5 million[3]

About a Boy is a 2002 comedy-drama film directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz, who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Hedges. It is an adaptation of the 1998 novel by Nick Hornby. The film stars Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and Rachel Weisz.

The film was theatrically released on 26 April 2002 by Universal Pictures. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Actors Hugh Grant and Toni Collette were nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award, respectively, for their performances. The film received positive reviews from critics and earned $130.5 million against a $30 million budget.

Plot

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Will Freeman lives a carefree lifestyle without any responsibility or commitments, thanks to royalties left to him by his father's successful Christmas song. He rejects the common phrase, "No man is an island," insisting that he lives happily as an island, despite disapproval from his married friends.

After a fulfilling and guilt-free fling with a single mother, Will joins the Single Parents Alone Together (SPAT) community group under the pretense that he is the father to an imaginary child, aiming to have the same experience again. He meets Suzie, who he is attracted to, but also meets Marcus, the socially awkward son of one of Suzie's friends, Fiona, unexpectedly on a planned play-date. When Will and Suzie take Marcus home, they find Fiona (who suffers bouts of depression) has attempted suicide and rush her to the hospital.

Marcus is very close to his mother but has no friends at school and is frequently bullied due to his awkward nature and appearance. Concerned that he may be left on his own if his mother succeeds at killing herself in the future, he becomes determined to find her a boyfriend and creates an awkward lunch date with Will, who is uninterested in Fiona.

Marcus spends a few days following Will and discovers Will's supposed toddler son does not exist. He uses the information to blackmail Will into dating Fiona, but Will refuses. Despite this, Marcus continues turning up at Will's home to watch television after school. They slowly form a bond, strengthened by Will buying Marcus cool new shoes to help him fit in better at school. However, the bullies steal the shoes and Marcus is forced to confess to his mother that Will bought him, also revealing they've formed a friendship and that Will is not really a father.

Fiona confronts Will and demands an explanation. He retorts that he is only building confidence in the boy because he is routinely humiliated and bullied at school. Though Will promises to cease further contact with Marcus, Fiona recognizes that Will's genuine interest in her son is good for both of them.

Will joins Marcus and Fiona for Christmas, giving Marcus a Mystikal album as well as a portable CD player. Despite a tense exchange with Suzie, who has been made aware of Will's deception, he is asked to stay for Christmas dinner and genuinely enjoys his day with Marcus' family.

As Marcus develops a crush on a girl at school named Ellie, Will also meets Rachel, who seems interested in him as first but is turned off by his lack of profession or direction in life. When she begins discussing her son, Ali, Will mentions Marcus, and he allows her to assume Marcus is his son. For the first time in his life, Will has developed a serious interest in a woman and asks Marcus to pose as his son.

Will grows closer to Rachel and eventually makes the awkward confession that Marcus is not his son, suggesting that Rachel is to blame for making the assumption, and she ends the relationship.

Fiona's depression returns, and Marcus goes to Will for help. Will, however, is still upset over his break-up and lashes out at him. He soon finds his previous life of self-dependence unfulfilling, missing Marcus's company. Will decides to reconcile with Marcus and talks to Fiona about her depression, but then finds out from her that he is due to perform at a school talent show that night, which would ultimately result in him being humiliated for the rest of his school life. As expected, Marcus' performance is greeted with brutal mockery, but Will joins in with a guitar, ultimately saving him from total humiliation.

By the next Christmas, Will and Rachel are together, with him having abandoned his previous lifestyle permanently. Will invites one of his Amnesty International colleagues to set him up with Fiona, and Marcus and Ellie remain good friends.

Cast

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Soundtrack

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Main article: About a Boy (soundtrack)

The soundtrack composed by singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy was released on 23 April 2002. The film also included music from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? by Keith Strachan and Matthew Strachan.

Track listing
  1. "Exit Stage Right"
  2. "A Peak You Reach"
  3. "Something to Talk About"
  4. "Dead Duck"
  5. "Above You, Below Me"
  6. "I love NYE"
  7. "Silent Sigh"
  8. "Wet, Wet, Wet"
  9. "River, Sea, Ocean"
  10. "S.P.A.T."
  11. "Rachel's Flat"
  12. "Walking Out of Stride"
  13. "File Me Away"
  14. "A Minor Incident"
  15. "Delta (Little Boy Blues)"
  16. "Donna and Blitzen"

Reception

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Box office

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With a budget of US$30 million, the film grossed $130.5 million.[3][4]

The film made $8.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office.[3]

Critical response

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About a Boy received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 185 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus states, "About a Boy benefits tremendously from Hugh Grant's layered performance, as well as a funny, moving story that tugs at the heartstrings without tilting into treacle."[5] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[7]

In December 2002, the film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best movies of the year.[8] The Washington Post declared the film to be "that rare comedy-drama that dares to choose messiness over closure, prickly independence over fetishised coupledom, and honesty over typical Hollywood endings."[9] Rolling Stone wrote, "The acid comedy of Grant's performance carries the film [and he] gives this pleasing heartbreaker the touch of gravity it needs".[10]

Roger Ebert observed that "the Cary Grant department is understaffed, and Hugh Grant shows here that he is more than a star, he is a resource."[11] The film earned Grant his third Golden Globe nomination, while the London Film Critics Circle named Grant its Best British Actor and GQ honoured him as one of the magazine's men of the year 2002.[12] "His performance can only be described as revelatory," wrote critic Ann Hornaday, adding that "Grant lends the shoals layer upon layer of desire, terror, ambivalence and self-awareness."[9]

The New York Observer concluded: "[The film] gets most of its laughs from the evolved expertise of Hugh Grant in playing characters that audiences enjoy seeing taken down a peg or two as a punishment for philandering and womanising and simply being too handsome for words—and with an English accent besides. In the end, the film comes over as a messy delight, thanks to the skill, generosity and good-sport, punching-bag panache of Mr. Grant's performance."[13]

About a Boy also marked a notable change in Grant's boyish look. Now 41, he had lost weight and also abandoned his trademark floppy hair. Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman took note of Grant's maturation in his review, saying he looked noticeably older and that it "looked good on him."[14] He added that Grant's "pillowy cheeks are flatter and a bit drawn, and the eyes that used to peer with 'love me' cuteness now betray a shark's casual cunning. Everything about him is leaner and spikier (including his hair, which has been shorn and moussed into a Eurochic bed-head mess), but it's not just his surface that's more virile; the nervousness is gone, too. Hugh Grant has grown up, holding on to his lightness and witty cynicism but losing the stuttering sherry-club mannerisms that were once his signature. In doing so, he has blossomed into the rare actor who can play a silver-tongued sleaze with a hidden inner decency."[14]

Awards

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Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz and Peter Hedges Nominated [15]
British Academy Film Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated [16]
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Toni Collette Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Nominated [17]
Best Actor – Musical or Comedy Hugh Grant Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About a Boy (2002)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
  2. ^ "About a Boy". Lumiere Database. European Audiovisual Observatory. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d About a Boy at Box Office Mojo
  4. ^ "About a Boy storms to top". BBC News. 30 April 2002. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  5. ^ "About a Boy". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  6. ^ "About a Boy". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  7. ^ "'Spider-Man,' 'About a Boy' Survive and Thrive Under 'Attack'". Box Office Mojo. 20 May 2002. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  8. ^ "AFI Awards 2002". American Film Institute. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  9. ^ a b Hornaday, Ann (17 May 2002). "'About a Boy': A Rake's Amusingly Slow Progress". The Washington Post. p. C01. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  10. ^ Travers, Peter (6 June 2002). "Reviews: About A Boy". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone Australia. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  11. ^ Ebert, Roger (17 May 2002). "Movie Reviews: About A Boy". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  12. ^ "Hugh Grant Film Actor, Comedy". GQ. November 2002. p. 325.
  13. ^ Sarris, Andrew (26 May 2002). "Old Dog Loves New Trick, A Ploy for Seducing Singletons". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  14. ^ a b Gleiberman, Owen (15 May 2002). "Review: About A Boy". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013.
  15. ^ "2003 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Film in 2003 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Winners & Nominees 2003". Golden Globes. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
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