About a Boy
Published October 3, 2011
Film info
- Title About a Boy
- Directors Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
- Year 2002
- Run time 1hr 41m
- Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Tagline One ordinary couple, one little white lie
Will, a rich, child-free and irresponsible Londoner in his thirties who, in search of available women, invents an imaginary son to attend single parent meetings. As a result of one of his liaisons, he meets Marcus, an odd 12-year-old boy with problems at school. Gradually, Will and Marcus become friends, and as Will teaches Marcus how to be a cool kid, Marcus helps Will to finally grow up.
Live Blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:54 | Bonus Chris Tarrant! That was unexpected. |
| 2:09 | “I like to think I’m Ibiza.” |
| 3:46 | That is how I hold babies too. |
| 5:42 | Apparently Mr C aspires to be like him. |
| 9:11 | I like films with narration. Particularly when it sounds like amusing director’s commentary. |
| 13:13 | Good grief, children are cruel. |
| 16:41 | It is hard to know how much two year olds should be able to say. |
| 17:56 | SPAT is not such a good acronym. |
| 20:38 | Hehe, charging carol singers, if you could catch them. |
| 22:49 | Dolphins can kill sharks with their noses? |
| 26:29 | Describing your life as a TV show is a good analogy. Like the Truman Show. |
| 30:31 | Two units on a head massage? That’s ages! |
| 37:14 | That kid is incredible at not taking no for an answer. |
| 39:44 | Carol Vorderman looks very different. |
| 44:06 | If only you could have a remote control for human beings. |
| 45:05 | I don’t think kids would find Hugh Grant scary. |
| 46:03 | “It happens and I wish it didn’t but that’s life, isn’t it?” |
| 52:11 | Waiters shouldn’t get involved in people’s conversations, no matter how loud they are. |
| 57:46 | Parsnip gravy sounds intriguing. |
| 1:00:46 | “It wasn’t a lie, it was 100% her assumption.” |
| 1:10:11 | I don’t see that Ellie character hanging out with him really. |
| 1:13:12 | What does blank mean as a describing word for someone? Dull? |
| 1:17:11 | I want a fish tank in my kitchen. |
| 1:24:04 | It’s like Love Actually, Hugh Grant rushing to a concert where a kid is going to sing. |
| 1:33:02 | He didn’t play the tambourine at all. |
Conclusions
Mr C likes this film quite a lot and it wasn’t until the first few minutes that I realised we’d actually watched it together before. I had a vague recollection of the boy standing in front of Hugh Grant’s front door, and something about units of time. I couldn’t remember the rest of it though, so was happy to have another chance to view it.
It was very, very good. Funny, heart-warming but without being over the top and sickly. I love the character of Hugh Grant, although he’s a little bit over the top. The ultimate concept “Every man is an island, but perhaps an island chain” is perfect. There were bits that were similar to other films - Hugh Grant obviously plays the same character in every film, and the Love Actually similarities were uncanny. There were surprising moments too, though, with Rachel’s crazy child, and some of the narration. I can’t really fault anything in the film, but I’m not quite prepared to give it a 5 out of 5.
Rating: 4/5
Rating: 4 / 5