About A Boy (Wide Screen) > Reviews

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Before being blackmailed into seeing About A Boy, the thought of seeing Hugh Grant (who I haven't liked in a movie since Four Weddings) starring in a movie adaptation of a book by Nick Hornby(who bored me rigid the first and last time I attempted to read one of his works) with a plot which sounded like it might involve snotty nosed kids and lots of the horrible creatures was about as appealing as the prospect of a passionate menage a trois with Rosanne ... Read review

Advantages: Well acted, well scripted, great soundtrack
Disadvantages: None

...little apprehensive when I put About a Boy into the DVD player. I'm not the world's biggest Hugh Grant fan (though he did go up massively in my estimation in Bridget Jones), and the idea of a film about the relationship between a man and a boy seemed sentimental, rather nauseous, and brought to mind previous bad experiences courtesy of films like The Champ. But all of my friends had recommended it highly, as had many critics, so I tried to cultivate ... Read review

Advantages: Very funny
Disadvantages: Comedy not to everyones taste

...written by Nick Hornby, entitled About a Boy. Not having read the book, I was initially tempted to read it first before watching it. But in the end, I gave in and watched this anyway. What I found, was a very hilarious movie played by some really good actors and actresses. Basic Plot = The very short summary is about how the lives of different people are tangled up together because of the selfishness of a man in his quest of a love interest ... Read review

Advantages: More than just another Hugh Grant Rom-Com
Disadvantages: Film is good, book is better.

...when he discovers Will's lie about his supposed "son" he blackmails Will to allow him to visit or he will expose him to the single parents group. Marcus revels in his new found friendship with Will and whilst Will doesn't exactly welcome Marcus into his life he does make genuine attempts to try to get Marcus to be more accepted within his own peer group, although this is a monumental task given Marcus's lack of social understanding. Hugh Grant ... Read review

Advantages: Light-hearted comedy
Disadvantages: You may not like Hugh Grant

...Weitz, (of American Pie fame). So about the story Will (played by Hugh Grant) is a thirty-something Londoner - he's single, plays the field and is very rich although he's never worked. Things kick off when he starts dating a single mother, he joins a single parent help group (with hilarious consequences), Inventing a son for himself, named Ned, he attempts to seduce single mother Susie(Victoria Smurfit). Will goes on a picnic with the single ... Read review

Advantages: Enjoyable, impressive acting, HUGH GRANT!!
Disadvantages: Nothing really, I enjoyed it!

...finally decided we fancied seeing About A Boy and being as it’s a 12 certificate, my eldest daughter thought she’d invite herself along too! So the three off us went off to our local twelve screen multiplex, ate double ice-creams and watched the film. About A Boy is based on a novel by Nick Hornby, who I have heard of, but haven’t read any of his books. I tend to prefer female authors for some reason (except for the wonderful ... Read review

Advantages: Touching story, well acted and sentimentally executed
Disadvantages: In many ways a re-hashed version of all of Working Title's previous releases

...sentimental end to proceedings. About A Boy is no different in this respect to all its Brit-flick predecessors (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones spring to mind). It seems Hugh can play just one part. Bully for him that he plays it bloody well. Right, time to set the scene. Hugh Grant plays Will, an unemployed, responsibility-free serial dater who happens to live handsomely from the royalties of his dead father's omnipresent ... Read review

Advantages: Hugh Grant's performance is comedic genius, NIck Hornby was resposible for the source material...
Disadvantages: The film suffers when Grant isn't on screen.

...with a rented copy of About a Boy. To be honest it was a film that I knew little or nothing about, its cinema release was ever so slightly overshadowed by one George Lucas’s Jedi cloning mayhem and at the time I was on the other side of the world. So with more than a small amount of intrigue I pressed play. The opening voice-over from an impressive Hugh Grant are distinctly Hornby, not as pensive as Rob Gordon’s High Fidelity soliloquies, ... Read review

Advantages: Good script, solid acting all round, funny
Disadvantages: Hugh Grant is another bumbling englishman

...want to know a bit about one particular scene its pretty useful. However the Making Of.. section is really well done and at only 10 minutes is worth a watch to get some of the background to the film. Finally there are DVD-rom features as well but I’ve not got a DVD drive so I can’t tell you what thats all about you’ll just have to find out for yourself!. OVERALL A very enjoyable film that in my opinion surpasses the previous ... Read review

Advantages: True to the novel, cute in parts.
Disadvantages: Not convincing enough, Hugh Grant is out of place in his role.

...be disappointed. The Plot of About a Boy Thirty-eight year old Will (Hugh Grant) is a British "bloke" who is rich enough not to work and wastes his days watching TV, listening to music and having brief relationships with women. After a relationship with a single mum, he resolves that these are the kind of women he wants to date. To this end, he invents a fictitious child ... Read review

Advantages: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult's quality acting, Quite funny in parts
Disadvantages: Predictable at times

...and doesn't need to care about anyone else. Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) - Marcus is an outcast, at school he is disliked and people think he is very strange which is hardly surprising because his mother is suicidal. Marcus hates school and in fact life in general. Fiona (Toni Collette) - Fiona is suicidal and Marcus' mother. She attends S.P.A.T (Single parents alone together) She's a mad woman to put it quite plainly. She thinks she's doing whats ... Read review

Advantages: Good film and story with strong performances
Disadvantages: More of the same from Hugh

About a Boy was one of those films I went to see as much because my other half is something of a Hugh Grant fan as anything. A few friends had seen it over the last couple of weeks, their view – “it’s a bit of a birds film”, well what do you expect from people who think it’s clever to sit and recite Ali G all bloody day AND think they’re clever!! The least I figured About a Boy deserved was an open mind. ... Read review