Sid Farquharson

About A Boy has, over the years, become one of my all-time favourite films. Repeated viewings, (and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I told you I’d probably watched About A Boy 50 times or more), never seem to wear it out or make it seem less enjoyable or stale. In my opinion this is Hugh Grant’s best performance. Not just because by 2002 when About A Boy was released Grant, now 41; took on more of an “Adult Cad” type character, or cut his famous mop of hair, or had lost weight to appear more “dangerous & stealthy”. No, this performance by Hugh Grant just carries loads and loads of subtle nuances. Hugh Grant as an actor in About A Boy makes very difficult, subtle personality traits look easy...his facial tics and subtle changes adhearing perfectly with much of the film’s narration. The supporting cast is also top-shelf: Toni Collette is perfect as a kind of 21st Century Granola-Chick hippy, Rachael Weitz easily the attractive woman Hugh Grant finally falls for, and young Nicolas Holt in his first film. Holt, just a kid here, is extremely mature beyond his years. Look I won’t try to explain the entire plot except to say this movie is about a spoiled adult “Bad Boy” who loves his easy life as a single bachelor only to learn through circumstances he is much lonelier than he ever would’ve guessed had it not been for his encounters after meeting a lonely boy in need of a Father Figure...or at least something of a “Big Brother-type Mentor”. This film is funny, incisive, and emotional. It actually pulls at your heartstrings. Why? I think because we all recognise these characters. We all know someone sort of like each of these characters. And if you happen to be a 40-Something unmarried Man, like Hugh Grant’s character Will, well you might recognise just a hint of yourself in this Guy...I know I did when I first saw the picture. Find this film and watch it. You won’t regret it. And after, ask yourself: “...has Hugh Grant ever been as good as he was in “About A Boy”?