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About a Boy

About a Boy on DVD

Who’d have thunk it: a warm and fuzzy movie that’s also funny, intelligent and, best of all, doesn’t suck in the least!

Hugh Grant is Will Lightman, a shallow individual living off the royalties to his father’s “one hit wonder” Christmas song. He lives well and is happy in his world of DVD’s, television and sports cars, but he realizes there’s something missing - though it doesn’t bother him enough to actually do something about it.

His relationships with women are just as shallow as his life, but somehow the status quo here isn’t good enough.

Then he hits on the perfect strategy for staying shallow and still having sex: dating single mothers, “sadder but wiser” girls who are looking for a man but who with any luck have moved beyond the "meat market" of the dating scene. He thinks this will be like shooting fish in a barrel.

So he makes up a son and heads for a “Single Parents Alone Together” meeting that, rather than being a "meet market" turns out to be a warm and fuzzy group personala empowerment session that’s enough to make one’s toes curl. It starts off well for him, though, because he meets an interesting woman but when he goes on what he thought would be a date with her she brings along Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), an unhappy child whose mother (Toni Collette) tries to commit suicide while they're out. This thrusts Will reluctantly into a leadership position he’s avoided all his life - and he doesn’t like it one bit.

Marcus, needing a male role model, starts showing up at Will’s house, uninvited and unwanted, and basically bowls Will over - and blackmails him - until he goes along with the relationship. And despite himself, he starts to like Marcus and their relationship and takes an interest in the boy and his life.

Then he meets a woman (Rachel Weisz) who really interests him, so much so that he’s even willing to begin a real relationship. Unfortunately, she’s also a single mum so, to get into her good books, he resorts to the lie of Marcus being his son. It blows up in his face, of course, but in the process he learns some important lessons about himself, life, and the meaning of things bigger than oneself.

Sounds like schmaltz, doesn’t it? And we suppose it is, but About a Boy handles it really well, never becoming maudlin or, worse, boring. In fact, even though it’s all quite predictable it’s still entertaining and intelligent in the grand British comedy tradition. It’s full of good laughs, with wit and heart, and in the end is an all ‘round enjoyable flick.

Hugh Grant (who in our opinion is underrated as an actor) is wonderful as Will, the self-absorbed slacker. He isn’t a bad guy, he just needs a kick in the pants to get his life in gear - and this movie is about him getting that kick - in fact, him finally seeing his life for what it is and kicking himself in the pants.

Nicholas Hoult, who according to the supplementary material doesn’t have a lot of experience, puts in a good performance as Marcus, and Toni Collette is very good as his mother. Rachel Weisz isn’t really around too much, despite her billing, but what she does is fine.

The DVD is also very good, though once again the movie has been released in both widescreen and Pan&Scan versions but, alas, sold separately. Fortunately, we received the anamorphic widescreen version, so we didn’t have to stretch and/or zoom it to fit our widescreen reference TV. And the picture quality is excellent, with good detail and wonderful color. Take a look at Marcus’ wool sweater if you want to see what good detail is all about.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, though we heard nothing coming from the rear speakers throughout the movie. Other than that, however, the sound quality is just fine.

Extras include a feature commentary with the directors, some deleted scenes and music videos by Badly Drawn Boy. You also get the lyrics to Will’s Dad’s one hit “Santa’s Super Sleigh,” and an “English to English dictionary” that’s rather lame. It translates some British expressions into “American,” though in the context of the film it’s pretty obvious what they mean anyway.

You also get a pretty interesting “Spotlight on Location” feature on the making of About a Boy, and DVD ROM features that, unfortunately require you to install the Interactual player if you haven’t already done so.

Unfortunately, when you hit “Play Movie” you’re sent to a trailer instead of heading straight into the film. This is an ugly new trend we don’t like, though to be fair you can just hit the chapter skip button to get rid of it; we just don’t like being forced to do that.

Bottom line for About a Boy, though, is that while North Americans may not have heard much about this film, it’s definitely worth seeing.

About a Boy, from Universal Home Video
102 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV Compatible/ Pan&Scan (1.33:1), not 16x9 TV compatible (SOLD SEPARATELY), Dolby Digital 5.1 audio
Starring Hugh Grant, Rachel Weisz, Toni Collette
Produced by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Brad Epstein, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Written by Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz, directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz

 

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Updated May 13, 2006