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About a Boy (2002)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
17 May 2002 (USA) moreTagline:
Growing up has nothing to do with age.Plot:
Based on Nick Hornby's best-selling novel, About A Boy is the story of a cynical, immature young man who is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 wins & 19 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(67 articles)
Exclusive: Rathbone speaks of New Moon - Part II (From Fangoria. 29 June 2009, 10:24 AM, PDT)
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(From Fangoria. 28 June 2009, 9:40 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
a sterling comic gem moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Hugh Grant | ... | Will | |
| Nicholas Hoult | ... | Marcus | |
| Sharon Small | ... | Christine | |
| Madison Cook | ... | Imogen | |
| Jordan Cook | ... | Imogen | |
| Nicholas Hutchison | ... | John | |
| Ryan Speechley | ... | Barney | |
| Joseph Speechley | ... | Barney | |
| Toni Collette | ... | Fiona | |
| Natalia Tena | ... | Ellie (as Nat Gastiain Tena) | |
| Laura Kennington | ... | Ellie's Friend | |
| Tanika Swaby | ... | Ellie's Friend | |
| Peter McNicholl | ... | Ellie's Friend | |
| Christopher Webster | ... | Ellie's Friend | |
| Ben Ridgeway | ... | Lee, the Bully |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
About a Boy oder: Der Tag der toten Ente (Germany)Pour un garçon (France)
Om en pojke (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Un gran chico (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
About a Boy (Finland) [fi]
About a Boy oder: Der Tag der toten Ente (Austria) [de]
About a boy - Un ragazzo (Italy) [it]
Bir erkek hakkinda (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Byl sobie chlopiec (Poland) [pl]
Comme un garçon (Canada: French title) [fr]
Egy fiúról (Hungary) [hu]
Era Uma Vez Um Rapaz (Portugal) [pt]
Gia ena agori (Greece) [el]
Gutter er gutter (Norway) [no]
Poika (Finland) [fi]
Totul despre baieti (Romania) [ro]
Um Grande Garoto (Brazil) [pt]
Un niño grande (Spain) [es]
more
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some thematic elements.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
101 minLanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
Malaysia:U | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Austria:10 | Canada:PG | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38482)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
As Will describes web-based research as a "unit of time" in his day, he is seen typing the URL supermodelswithseethroughtops.com. This is actually an active Web site consisting of only a picture of the Pope, Pope John Paul II, in his "Pope-mobile". moreGoofs:
Continuity: When Will is at the single parent meeting, his hair changes repeatedly between shots. moreQuotes:
Marcus: [Out to lunch with Will & his mum] I made her put on that nice jumper.Will: As for his mum, she appeared to be clinically insane, and wearing some kind of yeti costume!
more
Soundtrack:
Shake Ya Ass moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for About a Boy (2002)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| My favorite quote | grinch4627 |
| Blu-Ray? | OmegaDenim501 |
| HELP!! | happynco511 |
| Book's ending | Loumie |
| Differences between book + film? | emilyjackson27903 |
| Will keeps singing | happydude_16 |
Recommendations
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I think I smiled all the way through `About a Boy,' a comic near-masterpiece derived from the best-selling novel by Nick Hornby. For the sake of accuracy, both the novel and the film should more rightly be titled `About TWO Boys,' since the story focuses not only on 12-year old Marcus, but on 38-year old Will, a man totally dedicated to the proposition that any man who so desires can live quite happily on his own private little urban island, thank you very much. Will's `island' is his own London flat, which he has equipped with all the accoutrements of comfort and diversion that modern technology in the form of computers, big screen TV's and DVD players - can afford. Who needs people when you have so much `stuff' to keep you content and occupied? Will thrives in his environment, much to the chagrin of his married couple friends who keep insisting that he must certainly be miserable without a wife and family to give his life meaning. But Will loves being shallow a fact of his personality he is more than willing to declare right up front and the last thing he needs or thinks he needs is people to clutter it up. Yet, island dwellers have a tendency not to remain marooned for long, and, before he knows it, Will finds himself striking up a relationship with a lonely, backward boy named Marcus, whose mother suffers from serious bouts of suicidal depression.
More than any comedy in recent memory, `About a Boy' establishes a tone and sticks with it to the end. The screenplay by Peter Hedges, Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz (the latter two function as the film's directors as well) manages to take a potentially clichéd and predictable story and invest it with a warmth, wit and tenderness that are all-enveloping. The voice-over narration by both Will and Marcus, which introduces us to their characters and keeps us informed as to their mental progress throughout the film, is remarkably clever and droll. Yet, the characters never come across as smug, smart-alecky or flippant. Rather, they speak and behave in ways that are both believable and realistic. Hugh Grant gives his richest performance to date as Will, the man who refuses to grow up and assume the role of responsible adult, blithely unaware of the emotional depths that lie hidden under a surface of apathy and indifference. The superb Grant is more than matched by relative newcomer Nicholas Hoult, an extraordinarily gifted young actor who doesn't look like the average `adorable' screen kid, and who makes Marcus into a very real, very likable and very sensitive young man. The remainder of the large cast is outstanding as well. Moreover, the film is very astute in its observation about just how easy technology has made it for us to isolate ourselves from one another. Admittedly, a little of the sharpness does go out of the screenplay in its closing stretches, but not enough to diminish one's pleasure appreciably.
In many ways, `About a Boy' is a movie that needs to be experienced first hand, since mere words fail to convey the very special charm and spell it manages to cast over the viewer. Rush to see it. Comic gems like this one don't come around very often!