Initially the premise of "About A Boy" -- the friendship between do-nothing Will (Hugh Grant) and social-reject youth Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) -- seems a disarming idea. But this offbeat relationship reveals truths about the brutal and occasionally blissful nature of life and love from a fresh and intriguing story line.
Based on the novel by Nick Hornby, the author of "High Fidelity," "About A Boy" paints a lighthearted tragicomic portrait of the life of bachelor Will. Living off of the revenues from his father's hit song, "Santa's Super Sleigh," Will values life in terms of electronics, rap music, expensive shoes and his newfound penchant for dating single mothers.
Throughout his forays into the land of British single moms, Will encounters Marcus who, out of sheer loneliness, latches onto the once carefree singleton.
A bit cliched, the film emphasizes the lessons these protagonists are able to learn from one another. As Will teaches Marcus some social skills, the boy inserts tidbits of reality into Will's farcical existence. But any sense of the standard romantic fiction formula dissipates in the face of one major component of the film -- "About A Boy" actually takes the "comedy" part of "romantic comedy" seriously.
Directed by the Weitz brothers of "American Pie" fame, "About A Boy" refreshingly departs from any semblance of teen humor. Instead, genuine laugh-out-loud moments lie amid the film's look into the not-so-funny facets of life.
Grant's unrepentant self-deprecation often carries these comedic moments. As Will rejects an offer to be the godfather of a friend's daughter, he says he's positive he'll forget all of her birthdays until her 18th, at which point he'll most likely take her out, get her drunk and shag her.
Throughout the film, Grant's impeccably acted, pathetic, yet self-satisfied bachelor act allows Will to be charmingly unlikeable, similar to Grant's character Daniel in "Bridget Jones's Diary."
His good looks add further humor to his role. Clad in urban-warrior name-brand clothing, sporting professionally tousled hair, Will chants with a single parents' support group of dowdy, depressed mothers and joins the pathetically loveable Marcus in an on-stage rendition of "Killing Me Softly With His Song" -- complete with guitar and tambourine.
As Marcus, Hoult also is often strikingly funny. His character's social ineptitude is nothing but endearing. During a short scene, audiences see Marcus, wearing headphones, bouncing down the school hallway and singing a British-accented "Shake Ya Ass" along with Mystikal.
