About a Boy

Have not decided how exactly I want each post to go but in general I will make a note regarding whether or not the film in question is my wife's, my thoughts on the film and any personal memories or feelings I have related to the film. If I ever get more than ten followers I may have a heart attack!
1. Is it my wife's or is it mine? About a Boy is MINE! Yeah, that's right, even if I wasn't married I would own a Hugh Grant movie!
2. I am not sure how detailed this "review" portion of the blog will be but I am thankful that I only have to spend a line or two regarding the films plot because it essentially has no plot. The final third of the film breaks into some romantic comedy plot lines but the heart of this film is a character study. And that character is Will, a man who has no emotional ties to anything and has no financial concerns that would push him to try anything. He is an islander, living his island life in modern day London. He has friends but he is cautious to keep them at arms length. He is shallow and that fact does not only doesn't concern him but he embraces it almost as if it were a religion.
We also have Marcus, an adolescent who is moving to a new school and who has so much trouble adjusting that even the "nerdy" kids ask him not to hang out with them. He is a vegetarian by his moms choice, he wears home made clothes and his mother suffers from depression. Marcus is too young to fully comprehend the later part but following a failed suicide attempt Marcus realizes that he needs more than one person in his life in order to achieve the emotional comfort must adolescents are seeking.
As I mentioned above, the plot in the film is pointless. It centers around Will scheming to meet women who will dump him when it's convenient for him and he ends up meeting Marcus. Will resists but he eventually realizes that Marcus requires very little from him at first so he lets him in. And that is when the bubble bursts on Will's island living. Marcus begins to require more from Will and Will begins feeling a desire to let more people in now that he has let Marcus in.
On the surface the film succeeds because the comedic timing in the film is superb and film movies at a brisk pace in the hands of directors Chris and Paul Weitz. There are very few moments we dwell on in this film as the Weitzs focus on the tidal wave effect that letting a person into your life tends to have. There is also a tremendous cast behind Grant which is lead by Rachel Weisz and Toni Collette. On a deeper level though the film creates a fictional character in Will that is someone most people have said they would like to be whether or not they realize. Will is independently wealthy, he has nice clothes, a cool car, and nothing in his life that will hurt him. If you have ever daydreamed about winning the lottery you have daydreamed about being Will, at least to some degree. But what we come to understand through Will is that living a life in which nothing can hurt you also means you are living a life that can not challenge you. And that is why we see Will change. We are not meant to live our lives unchallenged and in fact life only becomes richer and more fulfilling the more challenges we take on. About a Boy captures these ideas with a light hearted feel goodness that is what makes the film so enjoyable again and again.
3. A few personal memories that stand out with this film. The first that comes to mind is that I remember being in college my roommates were Tyler and Curtis and we had our friend Evan over. There may have been more people there but I remember those three because they all riped me apart when I suggested putting this on to watch. I believe Tyler specifically was won over when Will remarked that he was able to win over his dates son by lifting him up by his ankles and dangling him upside down to which he said "I wish relationships with proper human beings were so easy." I also remember while this film was in theaters I made my friend Nicole see it three times and when I suggested it a forth time she nearly punched me in the face. I final memory I have is bring this film with me around Valentines day to watch with Heidi. We were only dating then and I lived in MI while she was in school in OH. I drove down and this would have been maybe the 5 time we were seeing each other as a couple. I need to bring a good film with me and this one was a no brainer I thought. She enjoyed and we are married! If I had brought Die Hard with me who knows what would have happened.