About a Boy 2002
I saw this on video. It had gotten some pretty good reviews when it came out. I didn’t think too much of it though.
Hugh Grant’s role is sort of challenging, playing a guy who is selfish and materialistic. Not likable, and yet he’s playing a role where you’re supposed to like him. He does his fumbling British thing like he always does, but the material isn’t as good here. There’s a little too much of him talking about himself (not surprising, since he’s selfish). Based on a book by the same guy who brought us High Fidelity, this movie suffers from much of the same flaws. I just don’t like this guy and he doesn’t do much of anything to redeem himself despite the happy ending.
There’s something about this movie where you watch it and think This part is supposed to be funny, That part is supposed to be clever, This part is supposed to be hilarious. But they aren’t. I don’t know whose fault it is that these things fall flat, but they do.
The kid that the story centers around is okay, but he’s just a little geeky kid. He’s too pathetic to win you over, though he has some good moments. His mother, a suicidal victim of acute depression, isn’t exactly a delightful sidekick but a dark heavy anchor pulling the whole comedy down. Also there’s not much of a romance here, though they throw one in just the same. Really it’s about this self-indulgent loner and the cloying young boy. Just not my kind of picture.
Roeper on Ebert and Roeper put this movie in his top 10 and said it was the best comedy of the year. Well, the year didn’t have many decent comedies (My Big Fat Greek Wedding being the only one that comes to mind, though Barbershop was supposed to be good) so that isn’t saying much. I will respectfully disagree. Maybe the humor will strike you better than it did me, but for me it missed the mark. I’ll give it a C.
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital