About a Boy on DVD
Whod have thunk it: a warm and fuzzy movie thats also
funny, intelligent and, best of all, doesnt suck in the least!
Hugh Grant is Will Lightman, a shallow individual living off the
royalties to his fathers one hit wonder Christmas song. He
lives well and is happy in his world of DVDs, television and sports cars,
but he realizes theres something missing - though it doesnt 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 isnt 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 thats enough to make
ones 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 hes avoided all his life - and he
doesnt like it one bit.
Marcus, needing a male role model, starts showing up at
Wills 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 hes even willing to begin a real relationship.
Unfortunately, shes 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, doesnt it? And we suppose it is, but
About a Boy handles it really well, never becoming maudlin or, worse, boring.
In fact, even though its all quite predictable its still
entertaining and intelligent in the grand British comedy tradition. Its
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 isnt 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
doesnt have a lot of experience, puts in a good performance as Marcus,
and Toni Collette is very good as his mother. Rachel Weisz isnt 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
didnt 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
Wills Dads one hit Santas Super Sleigh, and an
English to English dictionary thats rather lame. It
translates some British expressions into American, though in the
context of the film its 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 havent
already done so.
Unfortunately, when you hit Play Movie youre
sent to a trailer instead of heading straight into the film. This is an ugly
new trend we dont like, though to be fair you can just hit the chapter
skip button to get rid of it; we just dont 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, its 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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