Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) is a 38 year old bachelor who lives his life just how he wants to and he loves it. He goes from woman to woman and has never had a long term relationship with anyone. Will doesn’t have a job, something which he isn’t shy about, he survives from royalties after his Father wrote a famous Christmas song years ago. Will is just your typical bachelor but that is all about to change…

When Will sets up a scam to meet single Mothers he ends up meeting Marcus who figures out his scam and blackmails him into keeping quiet. All Marcus really wants is a friend and he begins to visit Will every afternoon to watch Countdown together. The two steadily become close and unbeknown to them they both influence each others lives more than they could ever understand…

Hugh Grant is a man who I have my own secret love/hate relationship with, there’ve been films that I’ve loved him in (Bridget Jones) and there have been films which I’ve absolutely loathed him in (Four Weddings, Notting Hill) although the latter actually being one of my favourite films I think Julia Roberts completely steals the spotlight from his usual type cast English gent type which after two of three films playing the same character you begin to feel physically sick! Hugh Grant takes a different approach to this film and he plays a totally contrasting character to the sickly sweet gentleman that is his usual calling card which in turn leaves him laughing in that irritatingly posh accent all the way to the bank. In this film he becomes a likeable character and a much more relatable character for much of the viewing demographic. I think that maybe it’s because for a change he’s not working with Richard Curtis that he’s managed to take on a diversely different character and for a change and actually does himself a favour. We haven’t seen much of Hugh Grant these last couple of years and I think that’s simply because the desire for a posh English plum character has dissolved as the film industry moves on, that kind of character was fine for the 90’s and early 00’s but these days the general public want something a bit different and more relatable. Hugh Grant miraculously manages to do his character justice which is a welcome rarity for him, although he is a womanising liar he still comes across as a very likeable and relatable character. He conveys a lot of character development throughout the film and although it’s predictable what’s going to happen it still becomes a joy to watch instead of a chore which was my previous misconception.

This has a really sharp and witty script, it’s more of a subtle comedy as there are no specific laugh out loud moments that I can pinpoint, of course that is mainly down to each individuals sense of humour but to my mind this film doesn’t aim to be another Bridget Jones or Love Actually. It’s merely a subtle comedy drama that hit’s the nail on the head with every aspect.

The support cast is led by Australian actress Toni Collette and Rachel Weisz who coincidentally plays a character called Rachel. Toni Collette I feel did very given the tragic circumstances of her situation, I do however feel that she wasn’t given a lot to work with and although you feel deeply for her son and want her to work things out for his sake you don’t feel much toward the character in question which was a bit disappointed. I think she should have had a lot more to do and say as her character was vastly underused. Rachel Weisz is an actress who I tend to have quite a high opinion of, she’s usually great in her roles. I wasn’t aware that she was in this film so I was pleasantly surprised to see her name appear in the opening credits. Unfortunately I feel that her role was simply there just for an extra lure for people to see this film. She played the love interest and that was literally it, she had no personality whatsoever and I feel that her character should have been introduced into the film much earlier on therefore giving the viewer a better insight into her life, personality and letting them see the relationship between Will and her blossom.

The DVD is available from play.com for the extortionate price of £16.99, however you can purchase what they’ve called a Hugh Grant box set which includes the films Love Actually, Notting Hill and About A Boy for only £3.99 brand new. If I didn’t already have the first two on DVD this is a set that I would definitely buy.