A charming surprise

>> About a Boy is a funny, unexpected treat

by MARK SLUTSKY

The best movie out so far this year—and certainly the funniest and most charming—may very well be About a Boy, a romantic comedy based on a Nick Hornby book. This was not expected. But it’s a surprise, and a delightful one.

The last Hornby book to hit the screens was High Fidelity, which I thought was pretty lousy—an ’80s movie in disguise as something more contemporary—but many warmed to it anyway. About a Boy has a couple of things in common with High Fidelity, in particular an aging, semi-hipsterish protagonist who can’t get his act together. In this case our hero is played by Hugh Grant, who seems to have foregone, as of Bridget Jones’s Diary, his stammering goofiness for a more solidified, slightly caddish charm. Grant’s a real layabout, a lazy, self-admittedly shallow 38 year old living off the royalties of a novelty Christmas song his late father wrote some 40 years previous. (The song’s recurrence in the movie is one of its best jokes).
Realizing that brief flings with single mothers suit his lifestyle just fine, Grant joins a single parents’ support group, claiming to be a father. On a picnic with the mothers in question, he meets Marcus (newcomer Nicholas Hoult), an awkward kid, the son of the depressed, hippyish Toni Collette. Slowly, they become pals, as Grant takes an interest in yet another mom (the lovely Rachel Weisz).

Lots more happens, but to avoid ruining anything—and to encourage you to see this movie—I’ll tell you what doesn’t happen. Hoult does not make Grant realize he wants to be a father. Nor does the kid act in the precocious Parent Trap fashion favoured by children in this kind of movie. Grant doesn’t mastermind an elaborate scheme where he tries to convince Weisz that Hoult is actually his son. (Actually, something like that happens, but it’s not what you’d expect.)

A rundown of the plot does not do this movie justice. It’s far better than a synopsis (or the awful trailer running on TV) could make it out to be, because much of its entertainment comes from its perfectly pitched tone, both hilarious and melancholic.

What’s nice about this movie is the care taken with the characters: Grant is admittedly a shallow guy (if not really callous or stupid), and he doesn’t change that much, or quit smoking or anything typically redemptive like that. And Hoult is a real discovery; he’s terrific, with his Marcus a very endearingly confused adolescent. Their relationship is really the crux of the movie, something that proves very funny. And also kind of touching.
I’ll also throw in that the soundtrack, by British fave Badly Drawn Boy, is also excellent and perfectly suited to the movie’s tone. I can’t stress this enough: take a pass on the Star Wars movie and see this one instead. :

About a Boy opens Friday, May 17