Rating: 
Summary: Professional "Loafer" Learns to Grow Up Already!
Review: Hugh Grant is a natural as the late 30s guy who never had to work a day in his life (and had no intention to), when his usual playboy-routines with short-lived relationaships suddenly became boring. What was the purpose of his life anyway? -- Enter, a 12 year old boy from a dysfuctional family, who figures it would be great to have a "back-up" to watch over his suicidal mother. A guy with above average financial means would fit the bill perfectly. There are many laughs, but also quite a few disturbing moments. The English working class seems far less cheerful than we see around us, or on TV. Bullying is a major thing there, and handled as though it were natural. Abandoned wives and mothers also make up an alarming number of failed relationship casualties. In all, if you want a good laugh, it's not going to come easy. After several twists and a few more turns, all arrive at a fairy tale ending, which didn't appear so certain until the very end. The title "About a Boy" could be interpreted in various ways. While watching, I would have called High Grant the "boy", due to his Peter Pan syndrome never wanting to care about anyone or anything. His days are divided into "units" of 30 minutes, all adding up to whatever pleased HIM. Although he had sensitive sides, showing generosity and caring, all had been given only until he decided that it was all about HIM again. A clever switch from the usual entertainment. A pleasant film, yet not quite up to the raving reviews I read. Fans of British cinema, and of course the star, will enjoy this one.****
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe.. if you liked Dumb and Dumberer
Review: If you're into dumb, go ahead and waste your time with this flick, but if you have a refined sense of humor, don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Pointless, Depressing, Somber, Immoral, Shallow, Boring...
Review: Let me see if this appears comical or enlightening to you: A shallow bachelor (Hugh Grant) lives for absolutely no reason except to snag single women, to have sex, and then to leave them worse off than they were before meeting him. In the process, he learns to prey on single moms, who are already emotionally damaged from prior relationships. He lies about having a son and uses this connection to meet up with a woman in the group. Through another display of broken families and shallow relationships, he meets a 12 year old boy who he hates from the very beginning. This kid's mom tries to commit suicide, only to have her son see her in a near-death state. He even discovers her suicide note. She gets better, and the plot basically ignores the immense emotional issues associated with such a drastic act. Sure, the mom cries all day, but mother and son never spend more than 1 minute talking about it, and don't even scratch the surface of the issue. The 12 year old boy is bullied and picked on at school, and his suicidal mother has not idea. The plot goes on, the bachelor tries to snag another single mother by lying about a son, and the story ends with an anti-climactic pseudo-cleansing of the viewer's emotions. The boy sings in the school Rock and Roll talent show, and gets boo-ed off the stage until the "heroic" bachelor comes on stage and plays a terrible song with him on guitar (this is moments after the bachelor comes to the talent show in order to dissuade the boy from committing "social suicide" by singing a song in the show). Does the bachelor learn anything? Does the viewier gain anything? Does this movie portray anything worthwhile? No. No. No. Sure, support this movie if you want to see the world continue to move towards immorality, suicide, selfishness, and broken families. Hail it as amazing if you are hoping to see more marriages end in divorce. Regard it highly if you disregard the institution of marriage and don't idealize healthy families. But for me, these aspects of society are not at all funny, enlightening, or entertaining to me. Sure, you could say that the bachelor learned something. The only problem is that the movie never clearly depicts this development. The viewer is left to hypothesize about the changes that the bachelor makes. So, if you want a movie that insults your intelligence and leaves you worse off for watching it, then feel free to rent About A Boy. Just don't believe the reviews that say it's a comedy, it's enlightening, or it's the best movie of 2002. It' not. I wish I could give it zero stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Feel-Good Time
Review: About A Boy is worth your time. The movie stars Hugh Grant and newcomer Nicholas Hoult. The two are an unlikely pair that somehow fit in. There are scenes in the movie that are pretty silly. Like when Marcus's Mom (played by Toni Collette) gives him a tambourine for Christmas and says that someday he'll be in a pop band. LOL! The family is poor so at some parts in the movie you actually feel bad for them. Rent About A Boy. It's a fresh, new suprise that makes you feel good. Watch it!
Rating:
Summary: Vastly underrated and not a chick flick
Review: "About a Boy" has a problem. Everyone thought it was a chick flick so men stayed away from it in droves. A modest hit in America, it suffered from the perception that it was yet another Hugh Grant movie whose target audience was women. But, this is a movie for and about guys. It is a movie that does a great job of examining the isolation so many men place themselves in and their relationships to the boys who will follow in their footsteps. Its proof that every boy needs a father in his life. Will (Hugh Grant) is a man who is living what a lot of us might see as a great life. Thanks to a hit Christmas single written by his father, a record Will happens to hate, Will does not have to work and lives the easygoing life of a bachelor in London. Although not quite rich, he is sufficiently comfortable with his income that he can own a great car, live in a nice apartment, and pretty much do as he pleases. He justifies both his existence and himself by openly admitting he is shallow, somewhat self-centered, and wants to stay that way. Because he is honest about himself he feels everyone should accept him as he is without criticizing him. Will believes that all men are islands and that they do not need strong relationships, so he constantly wanders from relationship-to-relationship with women, enjoying everything but having to break up with them when he tires of them. Will is introduced to a single mom and pretends to like her child in order to date her. In reality he believes he wants absolutely nothing to do with children. When she breaks up with him because she is not ready for a serious relationship, he believes he has hit upon a new dating tactic: date single mothers who apparently are so tied up in getting their lives in order that they will break up with him. In order to better pull off the [trick], he pretends to be a single father and joins a group called SPAT (Single Parents Alone Together). On a date with single mom, he meets a young boy, Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), who suffers with being an outcast at school and with having a depressed, sometimes-suicidal mom (Toni Collette), who Will at one point characterizes as "a barking lunatic." Marcus figures out Will's [trick], and sort of blackmails him into letting Marcus hang out at his apartment. Soon, unwillingly at first, Will finds himself trying to help Marcus blend in at school (after Marcus is harassed by other school kids, Will advises that Marcus make himself invisible) and advising him on dealing with girls and many of the problems a boy faces growing up. Will then actually falls for a single mom (Rachel Weisz) and finds that the only way he can gain her interest is to pretend to be a father, recruiting Marcus to play the part of son. Unfortunately for Will, he is actually growing emotionally and finds himself, in a strange bout of honesty, admitting he is not a father causing him to return his "island" status. Only he now finds he's not too happy with being an island and that he truly feels a bond with Marcus. He attempts to save Marcus from potential social disaster at a school talent show, serving himself up to ridicule and deflecting all of the catcalls to himself and away from Marcus. Will eventually concludes that maybe he is not just an island, but part of an island chain. The movie is filled with clever humor and one-liners and Hugh Grant is perfectly suited for the role of Will. In fact, its hard to imagine anyone else in any of the roles in the film; it's perfectly cast. Yes it has a happy ending, but this is not a tear-inducing happy ending, its an ending that seems perfectly suited to those involved without becoming overly emotional or mauldin. The movie, and book it is based on, are really metaphors for the lives of men. It is a great examination of the isolation that men place on themselves. Marcus is heading down the same road as Will, a life cut off from any real relationships, and it is only in developing what amounts to a father-son relationship that both can find happiness and true growth as men. Trust me, guys, while women love this film, it most definitely is not a chick flick and should be required viewing for every man who feels alone in the world and afraid of relationships.
Rating:
Summary: What About A Boy?
Review: What About A Boy?
Rated-PG 13
Video Release Date: June 3, 2003 Have you ever thought your life was just terrible at times? Well so did this boy, except he thought his life was terrible ALL the time. This movie is called About A Boy. When a young boy, about twelve years old, met a very selfish, rude, lonely, bitter man he had a feeling that his terrible life would change... or so he thought.
The characters in this movie, I thought, played their roles very well. For the most part, the characters were believable. What I mean is they didn't act phony. Right off you could tell what their characters personalities are supposed to be, or in other words, what role they're supposed to play in the movie. The antagonists (main characters) were the twelve-year-old boy named Marcus, (Toni Collette) the bitter man named Will, (Hugh Grant) and Marcus's mother who has some very serious problems (Rachel Weisz)
The theme of the story is a theme where probably teenagers would most likely want to watch. This movie talks about bulling at school and problems at home, which most teenagers face during life. This movie also talks about love, romance, and sneaky schemes.
The setting of this movie, About A Boy, takes place in London, England. The setting fits the characters very well. It looks very realistic and it doesn't look like a set with props and bad graphics. For example the boy's mother made some very unique bread. (Really it looked like a big rock and it felt like one too). Marcus started feeding the bread to the birds in the pond. Well he couldn't get a piece of bread off (because it was so hard) so he just threw the whole loaf of bread in and, sadly it hit and killed one of the ducks.
Now lets talk about the language. The language of the characters is a little hard to understand because they speak English. These characters are from England (or so I think) so their language is different and its harder to understand what they mean. But most of the words you can figure out pretty easily.
I recommend this movie to teenagers because they can relate to this movie better than adults can. The problems that are in school today and problems that teenagers have to face when they are at home. That's why teenagers can relate to this movie the best out of adults and younger children.
Out of all the movies that I have watched and I can relate to this is definitely one of the best. There aren't a lot of movies that teenagers can relate to, so that's why I liked it. There should be more movies that others can compare to. Now I'm not saying that EVERY teenager has these same problems, but there can be other movies about other topics that teenagers can relate to and maybe even other adults or children.
There are probably a lot of problems in your child's school with bullies, drugs, and other things. So talk to your child (or children) about this. This movie talks about reality and this stuff really does happen in real life and with real kids. If you are a parent, you are worried about what is going on with your child, and you watch this movie, you might get a better understanding on what your child might be going through.
Rating:
Summary: Not about a book
Review: Umh.. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't a movie based on a book have oh I don't know a little something to do with the BOOK. About a boy (the book)was set in the 90's had a lot to do with Kurt Cobain and was funny. The movie was set in our time talked about gangsta rap and wasn't even remotely funny. What happened to Marcus? I don't recall him being as half as annoying in the book, and he was annoying. None of the other people got to devlope the way they'd did in the book. In fact this whole movie seemed to be about...nothing. And Will was just a moron. Hugh Grant as a bad boy in Bridget Jones. Charming. Hugh Grant as a bad boy in this movie. Well it was just sad. And the whole singing thing? Was that meant to be funny.I was like god why won't this end. I saw this movie for free and still felt ripped off. Making a movie about a book can't be that hard can it. The book serves as the base for your screenplay. I mean it's like taking an open-book quiz and STILL getting a F.
Rating:
Summary: so much better than i expected, Hugh Grant's best movie
Review: A film by Chris and Paul Weitz About a Boy is based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name. In this movie we meet Will (Hugh Grant). Will is a single man who lives by himself and has never held a job in his life. See, Will's father wrote a popular Christmas song and Will is able to live off of the royalties. He may hate the song, but it allows him to live the life in the manner that he sees fit, which is just as self-centered as you can imagine it would be. Will is in his late 30's and he went to a single parent's group meeting in the hopes to meet a single parent (he has found they make great temporary girlfriends). He has to fake having a child to do this and ends up dating one for a little while. In a round-about way this lets Will meet Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), the young son of Fiona (Toni Collette). It is better seen than explained how Will and Marcus become friends/associates, but this relationship is central to the entire movie because it affects how Will approaches Rachel (Rachel Weisz), a woman he is very attracted to, and it affects his entire life. This was a very realistic feeling film and I can't say that there was a real weakness in it. The heart of the movie is the relationship between Will and Marcus and throughout the movie we can see a transformation of who Will is and who Will is becoming (and wants to become). I'll be honest, I've never thought much of Hugh Grant as an actor, but I thought that he did a fantastic job in the movie. Surely this was his best role in his entire career. I did not expect much out of this movie, but I think it will end up being one of the best movies of 2002. Some people have called in THE best movie of 2002, but I am not willing to quite go that far. It is an excellent movie and I would highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as "great" as critics made it out to be but quite good
Review: After missing this movie during its theatrical run, I was looking foward to seeing it as it was well-reviewed and loved by many. There is much to like about this movie, especially Hugh Grant's most adult role to date and he brings it home (he also looks great), as well as a casting coup by the name of Nicholas Hoult (could be the best performance by a child actor since Tatum O'Neal in "Paper Moon"), great music, and a "good looking" movie with a message that hit home for me. It even manages to use voice overs to give the scenes an even a greater punch. However, the movie lost me several times due to a script that at times was just a little too sitcomy or sappy and forgot its characters in order to move the story along. I was particularly displeased with Toni Collette's performance, but it must have been hard to bring life to a character that simply serves as a tool to other characters and is challenged by a script that tackles a very serious subject very badly and then just drops it with easy psychobabble. Also, a romantic interest is introduced, but nothing really happens with it. I assume that a lot of it was left on the cutting room floor as the main story is about the "boys". In a nutshell, I liked this movie and that is more than you can say for most that is out there, but I think that it was given too much praise and it has material weaknesses that make it a good but not great movie.
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorites
Review: This film at first did not pull me in. It did not seem like a movie I would like. I am more of a period film, "Elizabeth"-type movie lover. But I was surprised. During the summer, I made a top ten favorite movie list and this definately defeated Pirates of the Carribean. It was Hugh Grant's finest film to date and the movie that made Toni Collette shine. Welcome to About A Boy. This movie focuses on Will, a self-centered, self-proclaimed "island" man, meaning he is seperate from the world. This reason being that he inherits immense amounts of money every time a famous Christmas song, written by his dead father, is sang on television, a movie, etc. This allows him to be by far the most lazy man in the movies. He is also quite rude. It also focuses on a little boy named Marcus with a depressed mother. And when Will starts to seek single mothers, he and Marcus meet when he goes on a date with a single mother from the group SPAT (Single Parents Alone Together). He is the son of Toni Collette's character Fiona, who could not go to the gathering and let Marcus go with Will's date. Soon, when Marcus has some bad experiences at school and at home, they connect and help eachother out in tough situations. This movie is heart warming and quite funny. A peticular moment made me laugh excessively when Will was going to his first SPAT meeting. The women are telling stories about their husbands that have abandoned them. He narrarates the moment with the quote, "I can tell you one thing: Men are b**tards." The only criticism I would have is the movie's length. But all in all, it was a great film that I thought deserved a Best Actor nomination for Hugh Grant. I give this movie four stars and an A-. (Number 10 on my Top Ten Favorite Movies list)
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