Rating: 
Summary: Just not up to par
Review: I wanted to like this movie, I really did. But I was disappointed by it.
The premise of the film is that Will (Hugh Grant), a selfish slacker who has no job and lives off his father's old royalty fees, decides to start preying on single mothers who are looking for a little romance. He then meets Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), the young son of a suicidal woman who is desperately seeking help and friendship. Will eventually asks Marcus to pretend to be his son in order to have a shot at dating an attractive single mom (Rachel Weisz), and everything goes downhill from there.
"About a Boy" isn't at all what I expected it to be. I didn't think it was all that funny or moving, and I probably wouldn't have sat through the entire thing if it weren't for the fact that I adore Hugh Grant, and he really does a great job in the film. I think my biggest problem with the movie is that the kid who plays Marcus is kind of freaky, and I cringed every time his creepy little face popped up on the screen. I do not recommend seeing this film unless you are a big fan of Hugh Grant, in which case I suggest tuning in only for the final fifteen minutes so you can see him sing a rousing rendition of "Killing Me Softly," which is pretty freakin' hilarious. Otherwise, this is definitely a film to pass up.
Rating: 
Summary: Hugh Grant's Best Film
Review: I've never been a fan of Hugh Grant's. With the exception of perhaps "Notting Hill", he has always come off to me as being somewhat smug and self-satisfied. In this film he portrays a thirtyish slacker who lives off an inheritance who is confronted with the reality of growing up. This guise comes in the form of a maladjusted adolescent(Nicholas Houlte) who has to deal with bullies and his mother's suicidal tendencies. Grant's character serves as a mentor for the lad and in the process matures himself. The title of the film has something of a double-meaning. Does it refer to the young boy or Grant's character? The acting in this film is excellent with Houlte giving a natural performance and Toni Collette as his mother gives a complex reading of a character that could have been cliched. The script here is excellent. There are a number of scenes that stand-out. One involves Grant volunteering for Amnesty International so he can meet girls on the phone bank. Another involves Grant joining a single parent's group for the same exact purpose.
Rating: 
Summary: Hugh Grant's Best Role; Award Winning Acting Job
Review: If it were easy to win the Oscar with a comedic role, the next one might well be Hugh Grant's for his performance in "About A Boy." Actually, it is both a comedic and dramatic role so it gives us the full range of his talent, which is much more considerable that I initially thought it was. I first saw him in the drama "Maurice" and I thought he was good but little did I foresee that some day people would be calling him a comic genius. I've seen 3 films now based on Nick Hornby's novels, with Grant, Colin Firth and John Cusack as the leads in each film. Grant and his directors, the Weitz brothers, are the ones who do Hornby best. I also must give Grant credit for taking roles lately that play against his charming, bumbling Englishman routine, which he did to perfection in "Notting Hill" and other films. Most actors don't take risks with that kind of success but he has. I believe it started when he took the part of an English cad to Traci Ullman in a Woody Allen movie and then went on to play a super but adorable rat in "Bridget Jones." The film itself contains an inventive plot. Grant plays a man who has had to do nothing his entire life but lay around and chase women because he inherited money from his father's one tune mega hit. He finds that single women with children are easier prey than their childless counterpart. This leads to his using a boy he meets as a pretend son to help him score with women. The boy has his own problems, with a suicidal mother and not fitting in at school. The film turns on what occurs between these two characters and the other characters who intersect with them. It is rare to find an actor who can do comedy, drama and romance who is also great looking but Grant is indeed that actor. I thought the boy actor was also very good.
Rating:
Summary: Nick Hornby's work done cinematic justice at last
Review: If you liked the movie "Bridget Jones's Diary"; if you liked the Nick Hornby novel on which this movie is based; or if you liked Hornby's novel "High Fidelity" but were disappointed by the lame Americanized film, this movie is for you. The adaptation is about as good as one can hope for, the script (like the novel) is hilarious, and the performances are great. Hugh Grant as Will, in particular, is the most likeable cad I've ever seen on film, Toni Collette is quite believable, and the boy who plays Marcus is excellent and endearing (and I usually hate kids in movies, so that's saying something!). My only complaint is that Rachel, the woman Will eventually falls for, is completely blah. If she's supposed to be so fabulous, so much more special than anyone Will has dated before, why didn't the filmmakers give her an actual personality? Instead she just coasts by on her looks, which happens often enough with women in movies as it is. Still, this is a great movie. I recommend it to everyone with a sense of humor.
Rating:
Summary: This Does NOT Do the Book Justice
Review: If you've read the book, I wouldn't bother to buy this. You'll be left feeling robbed.
This film simplifies the storyline and the characters to the point where the heart and bones of the whole thing is ripped to shreds.
You might be mildly entertained if you haven't already read the book, but really, if you haven't read the book yet this might very well put you right off it, and that would be a shame, because Nick Hornby is a great writer.
I'll put this review in context by adding that I felt completely the opposite about High Fidelity, another film made from a Nick Hornby novel, which was truly marvellous and inspiring.
Rating:
Summary: Hornby's best book as a movie
Review: In yet another year where comedies have been painfully dominated by the sort of sophomoric gross-out humor revitalized by "American Pie," "About a Boy" was a real standout. (Ironically, it's directed by the Weitz brothers, who also directed "American Pie." Go figure.) Based on the novel by Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity"), Hugh Grant ("Four Weddings and a Funeral") plays a confirmed bachelor with no real human connections, no job, and no need for one (he's independently wealthy, and it's a humorous twist when you find out why). His world changes when he meets a single mother (Toni Collette, "The Sixth Sense") and her young son (standout newcomer Nicholas Hoult) that start to put a little perspective to his world.In any other writer's hands this would have turned into a sappy romance between Grant and Collette, but that never happens here. The movie is, instead, about Grant and Hoult and how their unlikely friendship shapes them both. Plus it's just really funny, and never what you'd expect.
Rating:
Summary: Great example of good adaptation, good ex. of bad directing
Review: It rarely occurs that the movie is better than the novel, this, of course, is not the case here. Nick Hornby's "About a Boy" is one of my favorite novels to come out of the nineties, a cynical look at single life and an awakening to something greater. And the film gets this across wonderfully. Nick Hornby is a great writer and it seems that his books make great movies, much like 2000's adaptation of "High Fidelity". (I can't wait to see what becomes of his newest novel, "How to be Good", it's really good by the way.) Yet, between the novel and the film there is always something that gets lost...
Hugh Grant stars as Will, a self-absorbed thirty-eight year old well-to-do English bum, living off the royalties of his fathers one hit wonder from 1958, a now traditional Christmas tune. Nicholas Hoult stars as Marcus, a twelve-year old who deals with his suicidal mother and the common teasings in the school yard. Both of these roles were played to perfection. I have never been one to praise Hugh Grant, for his ability in acting has forever been tainted as "The Charming Brit." Yet, by the end of this film I was fully convinced and I loved him and his character. Toni Collette, who I have loved since I saw "Cosi!"(a small 1997 Australian film), stars as Marcus' mother who begins and ends each day with an almost ritual crying. Once again, I wasn't surprised at her outstanding performance. Rachel Weisz, as Will's genuine love interest, was beautiful and played with the perfect amount of charm and subtlety.
There is an element at play here within the film that could make one cringe if it were to bother them enough as it did me. The two directors, Chris and Paul Weitz, whose endeavors include "American Pie" and "Down to Earth", were perhaps not qualfied for the job of directing such a film. The film is a simple one with simple dialogue, simple acting, and simple humor. Yet, the Weitz Brothers try to add an element which should not exist. The camera angling seemed odd and very awkward at moments. Such shots as reflections in door knobs and TV screens that just didn't fit. The Weitz Brothers problem may be in the fact that through trying to redeem themselves, they have dug a deeper hole. This is a great example of bad filmmaking. Trying to complicate a simple scene with supposed artsy camera angling. I didn't buy it, and it came off cliched and unaffectual...which doesn't help when the film is supposed to be redeeming.
The adaptation was wonderful, there were some things from the book I would've like to see in the film, but for film you must make sacrifices. The thing about adapting a book to film that was hardly written over five years ago is that people will forever remember the film before the book. If you adapt a classic like "Huckleberry Finn" to film, everyone still remembers the book. I say, wait a little longer, let the book take its place and let it be remembered for a book, not a film. Personal opinion here folks.
Overall, great acting, great adaptation, but some really shotty decisions made by the two directors. If you can overlook that, this is very refreshing film that will literally leave you with a large smile upon your face.
Rating:
Summary: Whats the Male equivalent of the Chick Flick?
Review: Its wonderful to see Hugh Grant in a film that does justice to his comedic talents.This is a genre in which he shines and its a pleasure to see him supported by a great cast and strong script.
This time he isnt quite the affable fop like the character he plays in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill; in fact in lesser hands the character of the shallow self centred Will could have been quite unsympathetic. That he manages to retain the sympathies of the audience is a credit not only to the actor but also the directors and Nick Hornby the author.
Although the movie could be loosely classified as a romantic comedy, it has a lot to say regarding contemporary male values and the nature of what constitutes family and community in a Western World increasingly marked by the dissolution of the nuclear family.
The film pokes a bit of fun at liberal greenie politics and socialistic feminism but it does it with humour and focuses on what are human foibles not idealogical ones.Toni Colletes character(isnt she making every post a winning one)character belongs to a single parents support group wittily named Single Parents Alone Together or SPAT could have easily become a laughably tragic figure but the film is too clever and too well humoured for that.Her behaviour on the surface like Grants is self centred but the film creates context for her so that over the course of the story we get to understand the fears that drive her rather odd behavior.
Comedy is a excellent vehicle to explore the masculine emotional world and hopefully relate to a male audience that only rent action or horror flicks. I only hope that Nick Hornby,Tony Parsons etc keep writing the stories they do.Good on ya mate!
Rating:
Summary: two boys for the price of one
Review: Right on the money. Doesn't miss a beat. Creative writing and great performances. The humour and occassional drama come in subtle waves. The boy in this story is definitely the character of Hugh Grant and to the story's credit a second boy,who is of age to be an authentic boy is introduced. He walks into Grant's life and turns everything upside down and they both learn to be men. Instead of going for broad comedy the script is more subtle, focusing on people's dilemmas, contradictions, hypocrisies and even finding humour in their tragic failures. It's really a drama that takes everything very seriously. But because it sees the light at the end of the tunnel, very clearly it teaches us that when life presents an end to something, it also offers a beginning to something else. Let's embrace it!
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: Somehow Hugh Grant and the film-makers turned this extremely shallow and emotionally clueless person into someone I really cared about. The young man, the Marcus character, was so sad and funny. He reminded me a little too much of grade school (shudder). Toni Collette as the mum was both pitiful and hopeful, all at once. If you want to watch a movie about how people really can change for the better sometimes, here it is. There is romance, and there is comedy, but I think this movie kind of rises above those (rather played-out) genres. I loved it.
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