About a Boy
Chris and Paul Weitz, Directors

Review by Rada Djurica

"About a Boy" is a highly entertaining, mainstream, melodrama-free, light comedy. You might call it a box office "sweetheart." Because, in addition to bringing in the money, it brings a nice little smile to your face. It doesn't produce false sentimentality in men or the sweet, purple haze of a sunny day in women's heads. It is reality and, as reality bites the same everywhere, you can't say that it's a typical British film. It's universal.

And who is more natural and better than Hugh Grant for such parts? Although Grant looks slightly different from usual, as though make-up made him look older, let's face it, Grant's usual parts are more or less the same: one dimensional, slimy boyish types of men. ("Small Time Crooks," "Notting Hill," "Bridget Jones' Diary"...) But no matter what kind of character he plays, his intriguing appearance instantly wins you over and gets under your skin. Once you step into his boyish screen life, you comfortably stay there, always coming back for more, because he is so natural.

Usually, characters like Will would provoke negative feelings. But here, the bad guy is likable.

Than we have Toni Colette, a superb actress who plays the unconventional, clinically depressed mother, Fiona. Colette is also very natural. It makes you remember her in all of her previous parts.

And of course, Rachel Weisz (2001's "The Mummy Returns"), a single mother whom Will meets and lusts after, is the perfect addition to the cast.

Film directors Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz have done a good job, making a warm, comic and heartfelt comedy that, at the same time, is grounded in reality.

Hugh Grant's 2001 role in "Bridget Jones's Diary" was certainly one of his most wonderful parts. In "About a boy" he plays Will (an appropriate name), who has lived his entire life off the royalties from a one-hit-wonder song that his father wrote years ago. He is "a little boy" lost in modern British society, with no real life goals and no idea how to live, already set for life, appearing in television quizzes and dating pretty women.

His life changes when he decides to find a divorced, single parent to have sex with. But instead, he meets 12-year-old Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), son of his latest female prey's friend. Even if that's the last thing that Will wants, real life creeps in. Marcus seeks refuge in Will's home, running away from his depressed mother, Fiona (Toni Colette). With the help of the serious life troubles of a little boy and his mother, Will is forced to face his shallow life.

Based on the novel by Nick Hornby, the piece is adapted wonderfully, although it is true that "About a Boy" has a predictable plot.

This is the story of ordinary people. It is, for once, a story about people who are simply trying to find comfort in the small, humorous events of their boring little lives.

If "About a Boy" is not touching in a classic melodramatic way, at least it is enormously funny. But for me, the most effective detail in the film, is the scene where Fiona (Toni Colette) performs the R. Flack song, "Killing Me Softly," that vividly represents her depressive state of mind.

This film surprises, and if you don't like that sappy sweet taste of the melodrama, don't worry. Because this film doesn't wallow in easy swallowing sentimentality. Indeed, it is like real life.