HEFE'S REVIEW OF:
ABOUT A BOY (2002)

OPENING THOUGHTS

    You might be wondering why the hell I am reviewing a movie from 2002 only just now in 2010. Well the answer is when I was a much younger man I made the mistake of buying virtually any DVD I could get my chubby fingers on if I could find it on sale. As a result I am left with a swollen collection of useless DVDs and in an effort to make myself feel better I am slowly going down the list and watching them all, whether I liked the movie or not. As you might expect, this journey starts with the letter "A", as does this movie.

ACTING

    HUGH GRANT is getting older, at least he was in 2002, now it's eight years later and believe it or not he is even older now! Did I just break your mind? Anyway, Grant became famous not for his incredible acting abilities, but instead for his charming personality, clean cut good looks, and of course his accent. The question is, as his looks start to fade, will he be able to sustain a movie career now that most women across these grand United States have stopped feverishly fingering themselves to his movies? I really don't know, I have yet to see him put in a performance that made me change my opinion of him, and this movie is no exception. Grant looked and sounded tired in this movie, which I think was supposed to pass for dramatic, but I am not really sure. It might also be possible that he may have just caught some crotch sniffles from a British prostitute.
    TONI COLLETTE was freaky deaky in this film. I want to say that she did a good job, but that is difficult for me because I didn't like the character, and she was not enjoyable to watch. I know that sounds confusing, and in short, it is a bit confusing, but I am sticking to it. I feel I must acknowledge that she played her part very convincingly and the role was way different than anything else I have ever seen her do. I honestly thought she was going to kill herself, and she did such a good job creating a genuinely shitty and crazy person, that I wouldn't have cared if she had. Hell, I would have handed her the knife.
    NICHOLAS HOULT is the anti-christ. I know that sounds harsh, but have you ever looked at this kid's face, it is unbelievably frightening. I think if he and the kid from Godsend and Birth, Cameron Bright, were ever to just stare at each other the world end. This kid's eyebrows will give me nightmares until the day that I die, there is no excuse for putting someone like this in my face. I understand he has a sizable role in the upcoming Clash Of The Titans remake, and I am interested to see what he looks like now that he is a grown ass man. If he still looks as terrifying as he did in this movie, the only thing I can imagine they would cast him as would be the Kracken.
 

DIRECTION AND SCRIPT

    PETER HEDGES, CHRIS WEITZ and PAUL WEITZ wrote this movie based on a book of the same name, with the Weitz boys doubling up as co-directors as well. The main complaint I have with this movie is basically how boring it is. It is kind of an interesting character study, but the film as a whole is pretty fucking slow. The other thing that I hate about this adaptation is how they switched the music that changes Marcus' life from Nirvana to butt-fucking rap music. Why the hell would you make that kind of change, especially when the death of Kurt Cobain was so relevant to the character because of his own mother's attempted suicide attempt? It's lunacy I tell you, lunacy! I also had completely forgotten that this movie was nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes as well as Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars. That I found to be completely shocking, as "great" was not the first word I thought of after rewatching this movie, instead I thought of words like "average" or "forgettable" or "I am kind of hungry." That last one is not really related to the movie, but I feel is still a very valid point.

THE VERDICT

    I wouldn't go out of your way to watch this movie. I wouldn't say anyone does a terrible job in this movie acting wise, but the only person who did a good job was Toni Collette, and I hated the character. The character of Will on the other hand was an interesting character study, but the movie as whole was very forgettable. I have made many DVD related mistakes in my life, and now I am having to pay for my sins. I only take comfort in knowing it will take me awhile before I get to It's Pat: The Movie.
 
 

RATING: C

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