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Hugh've come a long way
Hugh Grant abandons the Hugh Grant type to give his best performance in
"About a Boy," based on Nick Hornby's witty and wise fable of a commitmentphobic
cad who cruises single-parent support groups for chicks.
By DAVID N. BUTTERWORTH
Offoffoff.com
Hugh Grant wouldn't necessarily be my top choice to play Will Freeman, the
narcissistic 30-something sloth of Nick Hornby's "About a Boy," but in the film
version of the British writer's acerbic, best-selling novel, Grant is absolutely
perfect in the role.
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| | | ABOUT A BOY | Directed by: Chris and Paul Weitz.
Cast: Hugh Grant, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Isabel Brook, Sharon Small,
Victoria Smurfit, Nicholas Hoult, Madison Cook, Jordan Cook, Nicholas Hutchison,
Ryan Speechley, Joseph Speechley, Nat Gastiain Tena..
Related links: Official site | All of David N. Butterworth's reviews at Rotten Tomatoes |
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He looks the part, for one thing, with his trademark floppy hair here replaced
by a fetching, short-cropped do. Gone, too, are the trademark Grant-isms, the
nervous twitterings and bumblings that have graced the likes of "Bridget Jones's
Diary," "Notting Hill," and "Four Weddings and a Funeral." Grant has somehow
replaced all that with a performance that borders on brilliant. It's absolutely
on, he's absolutely on, and his contributions alone make "About a Boy" worth
catching.
Shallow Will considers himself to be an island. Ibiza, actually. He does
nothing, has no job, no prospects — he just sits around watching television,
listening to his Bang & Olufsen hi-fi, playing snooker (aka "exercising"),
and having his hair done, all the while living off an inheritance afforded him
by his old man who, in 1958, wrote a smashingly successful Christmastide jingle
called "Santa's Super Sleigh." The fact that he does nothing, has no job, no
prospects doesn't exactly endear him to the women he dates but that's not really
a problem since Will isn't into commitment anyway.
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| It sounds horribly corny but with Hornby's text at its center, nicely tweaked
by screenwriter Peter Hedges ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape") and the brothers
Weitz, "About a Boy" manages to sidestep a boatload of clichŽs. | |
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All this changes when self-centered Will meets misfit Marcus, the 12-year-old
son of a friend of a woman he picks out of a lineup at a support group for
single parents. Will doesn't actually have a son, but he invents one — "Ned" — simply
to take advantage of the kind of emotionally vulnerable women that frequent
a group such as SPAT (Single Parents Alone Together). Marcus, who's bullied
at school and has a suicidal mother at home (she's played by the fiery Toni
Collette of "Muriel's Wedding" and "Clockwatchers," who turns in yet another superlative performance), immediately starts
showing up like clockwork at Will's London flat every day. Eventually Will
teaches Marcus how to be cool and, in turn, Marcus teaches Will how to grow
up.
It sounds horribly corny but with Hornby's text at its center, nicely tweaked
by screenwriter Peter Hedges ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape") and the brothers
Weitz (who also direct), "About a Boy" manages to sidestep a boatload of cliches.
In fact, I only had two problems with the film. Firstly, I didn't find Nicholas
Hoult (who plays Marcus) particularly compelling as an actor — he's right for
the role but he's no Haley Joel Osment, that's for sure. And second of all,
the cloying song score (provided by the cloyingly titled Badly Drawn Boy) detracted
from the visuals at every turn.
These two relatively minor concerns aside, "About a Boy" is nevertheless an
irresistible coming-of-age story that mixes wit with substance and does it in
such convincing style that you actually buy the fact that Grant's character
could transmogrify from Will the Irresponsible Cad to Will the Responsible Father
Figure over the course of the movie. As for Grant himself, it's simply the
best work he's ever committed to celluloid.
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MAY 24, 2002
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