About a Boy (film)

Infobox Film | name= About a Boy


caption = "About a Boy" movie poster
director = Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz
writer = Nick Hornby (novel),
Peter Hedges (screenplay)
starring = Hugh Grant,
Nicholas Hoult,
Toni Collette,
Rachel Weisz,
Sharon Small
producer = Lynn Harris
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = May 17, 2002
runtime = 105 minutes
language = English
budget = £20,000,000 GBP
amg_id = 1:261808
imdb_id = 0276751

"About a Boy" is a 2002 English film directed by brothers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, based on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby. The film stars Hugh Grant as Will, Nicholas Hoult as Marcus, Toni Collette as Fiona and Rachel Weisz as Rachel. The movie at times uses double voice-over narration, where the audience hear both Will's and Marcus's thoughts.

The movie was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Adapted Screenplay. Hugh Grant has suggested this is the work he is the most proud of.Fact|date=July 2008

Plot

Will Freeman is a contented, willingly unemployed Londoner in his late thirties who lives off the royalties of his father's lucrative one-hit wonder Christmas tune. He keeps himself occupied by shopping, playing snooker, smoking, drinking scotch and having his hair "carefully disheveled". He dates often, but has never had a relationship that lasted longer than two months. Will does not wish to take any responsibility, or to care for anybody apart from himself, whereas his friends have raised families and built careers.

After a gratifying fling with a single mother, Will joins a single parents' group called "SPAT" (Single Parents Alone Together) in order to meet more of them. He invents a son called Ned. He soon arranges a date with a member of SPAT called Suzie; they are accompanied for the day by the twelve-year-old Marcus. Marcus, an outsider with no friends, is the son of Suzie's friend and single mother Fiona, who is an eccentric vegetarian hippy. Will, Suzie, and Marcus go to the park where Marcus accidentally kills a duck by throwing a loaf of Fiona's home-made bread at it. When a park keeper complains, Will covers for Marcus. When they return to Marcus's house, they discover that his mother attempted suicide. The three rush her to the hospital and she survives.

Marcus feels that his situation would be more secure and less worrying if his depressive mother had a boyfriend, so he cons Will into taking the two of them out for a meal. Fiona and Will do not hit it off. For some time thereafter Marcus follows Will, and discovers that he does not have a son after all; he confronts Will, and blackmails him into letting him visit every day after school. This gradually becomes a routine. Initially reluctant, gradually Will befriends Marcus, and tries to help him blend into the crowd as a defence against the bullies. Will is invited to spend Christmas day with Marcus's family. Spending time with each other starts to change both of them, Will in particular.

At school, Marcus befriends a trendy girl named Ellie. Will finds a new girlfriend, Rachel. Will mentions Marcus to her, and she assumes that he is Will's son; Will decides to go along with her misapprehension. Marcus agrees to help with the pretence, and so Will takes Marcus with him to visit Rachel. Rachel's son Ali is angrily jealous of Will. Time passes, and Will eventually tells Rachel the truth about Marcus; she is deeply affronted by his lie, and Will departs, ashamed of himself. Distraught at the loss of the first woman he ever really loved, Will becomes unable to carry on with his normal routine. He resorts to his old life again.

Meanwhile, Fiona becomes depressed again, and Marcus approaches Will for help. Since Will is still in anguish after losing Rachel, he refuses and Marcus storms off. Marcus remembers that his mother always enjoys hearing him sing. In a desperate attempt to distract her from suicidal thoughts, he enters himself in an upcoming school talent show, and he decides to perform a solo of one of her favorite tunes, "Killing Me Softly".

Will realises that Marcus is now the only person who really matters to him. And since Fiona matters to Marcus, Will goes to a SPAT meeting to accost her and persuade her not to commit suicide. Fiona is embarrassed, but touched. When she tells Will that Marcus is going to perform the song in front of the school, he rushes to stop him committing social suicide. Will arrives in time, but Marcus goes on stage anyway and begins to sing "a cappella" a song that is clearly meant to be performed by a woman. As the crowd begins to jeer Marcus, Will joins him on stage with a guitar to divert the crowd's attention, and distracts the audience sufficiently to stop them ridiculing Marcus. Rachel's anger with Will is visibly softened by his concern for Marcus, and the episode makes Fiona decide that for Marcus's sake she has to become a less eccentric mother.

The movie jumps to the following Christmas. It seems at first that Will is alone again in his apartment, but it soon becomes apparent that he is spending the day with Rachel and Ali, Marcus and Fiona, Ellie, and a male acquaintance whom he perhaps sees as a possible partner for Fiona.

Cast

Movie soundtrack

The movie soundtrack, also titled "About a Boy" was released in 2002. It was composed by singer/songwriter Badly Drawn Boy.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/1959728.stm BBC News 2002: About a Boy storms to top]
*imdb title|id=0276751|title=About a Boy