movie review about a boy

About a Boy

Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette and Hugh Grant.

Hugh Grant , who has a good line in charm, has never been more charming than in "About a Boy." Or perhaps that's not quite what he is. Charming in the Grant stylebook refers to something he does as a conscious act, and what is remarkable here is that Grant is--well, likable. Yes, the cad has developed a heart. There are times, toward the end of the film, where he speaks sincerely and we can actually believe him.

In "About a Boy," he plays Will, a 38-year-old bachelor who has never had a job, or a relationship that has lasted longer than two months. He is content with this lifestyle. "I was the star of the Will Show," he explains. "It was not an ensemble drama." His purpose in life is to date pretty girls. When they ask him what he does, he smiles that self-deprecating Hugh Grant smile and confesses that, well, he does--nothing. Not a single blessed thing. In 1958 his late father wrote a hit song titled "Santa's Super Sleigh," and he lives rather handsomely off the royalties. His London flat looks like a showroom for Toys for Big Boys.

Will is the creation of Nick Hornby , who wrote the original novel. This is the same Hornby who wrote High Fidelity , which was made into the wonderful John Cusack movie. Hornby depicts a certain kind of immature but latently sincere man who loves Women as a less demanding alternative to loving a woman. Will's error, or perhaps it is his salvation, is that he starts dating single mothers, thinking they will be less demanding and easier to dump than single girls.

The strategy is flawed: Single mothers invariably have children, and what Will discovers is that while he would make a lousy husband, he might make a wonderful father. Of course it takes a child to teach an adult how to be a parent, and that is how Marcus ( Nicholas Hoult ) comes into Will's life. Will is dating a single mom named Suzie, who he meets at a support group named Single Parents, Alone Together (SPAT). He shamelessly claims that his wife abandoned him and their 2-year-old son, "Ned." Suzie has a friend named Fiona ( Toni Collette ), whose son, Marcus, comes along one day to the park. We've already met Marcus, who is round-faced and sad-eyed and has the kind of bangs that get him teased in the school playground. His mother suffers from depression, and this has made Marcus mature and solemn beyond his years. When Fiona tries to overdose one day, Will finds himself involved in a trip to the emergency room and other events during which Marcus decides that Will belongs in his life whether Will realizes it or not.

The heart of the movie involves the relationship between Will and Marcus--who begins by shadowing Will, finds out there is no "Ned," and ends by coming over on a regular basis to watch TV. Will has had nothing but trouble with his fictional child, and now finds that a real child is an unwieldy addition to the bachelor life. Nor is Fiona a dating possibility. Marcus tried fixing them up, but they're obviously not intended for each another--not Will with his cool bachelor aura and Fiona with her Goodwill hippie look and her "health bread," which is so inedible that little Marcus barely has the strength to tear a bite from the loaf. (There is an unfortunate incident in the park when Marcus attempts to throw the loaf into a pond to feed the ducks, and kills one.) Will finds to his horror that authentic emotions are forming. He likes Marcus. He doesn't admit this for a long time, but he's a good enough bloke to buy Marcus a pair of trendy sneakers, and to advise Fiona that since Marcus is already mocked at school, it is a bad idea, by definition, for him to sing "Killing Me Softly" at a school assembly. Meanwhile, Will starts dating Rachel ( Rachel Weisz ), who turns out to be a much nicer woman than he deserves (she also has a son much nastier than she deserves).

This plot outline, as it stands, could supply the materials for a film of complacent stupidity--a formula sitcom with one of the Culkin offspring blinking cutely. It is much more than that; it's one of the year's most entertaining films, not only because Grant is so good but because young Nicholas Hoult has a kind of appeal that cannot be faked. He isn't a conventionally cute movie child, seems old beyond his years, can never be caught in an inauthentic moment, and helps us understand why Will likes him--he likes Marcus because Marcus is so clearly in need of being liked, and so deserving of it.

The movie has been directed by the Weitz brothers, Paul and Chris, who directed " American Pie "--which was better than its countless imitators--and now give us a comedy of confidence and grace. They deserve some of the credit for this flowering of Grant's star appeal. There is a scene where Grant does a double-take when he learns that he has been dumped (usually it is the other way around). The way he handles it--the way he handles the role in general--shows how hard it is to do light romantic comedy, and how easily it comes to him. We have all the action heroes and Method script-chewers we need right now, but the Cary Grant department is understaffed, and Hugh Grant shows here that he is more than a star, he is a resource.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Hugh Grant as Will
• Toni Collette as Fiona
• Rachel Weisz as Rachel
• Nicholas Hoult as Marcus
• Chris Weitz
• Peter Hedges

Based On The Book by

• Nick Hornby

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Parents' guide to, about a boy.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 5 Reviews
• Kids Say 18 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Edgy, sweet book-based dramedy has profanity, mature themes.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that About a Boy is a 2002 movie based on a novel by Nick Hornby in which Hugh Grant plays a self-centered playboy who starts to become a better person after meeting a misfit 14-year-old with a depressed and suicidal mother. There's some strong language (including two uses of "f-…

Why Age 14+?

"F--k." "F--king hell." "S--t." Kids say "s--

Suicide attempt by one character who swallows pills, is shown passed out on a co

Main character's father is shown as an alcoholic, but only in a brief flashb

Sexual references -- main character starts as a cad. Mild sex talk between teena

Will cares a lot about fancy products/brands. He purchases a pair of Sketchers s

Any Positive Content?

Main character starts out rather selfish, but ends up caring a great deal about

The shallowness of materialism is shown, as is the emptiness of short-term relat

Parents need to know that About a Boy is a 2002 movie based on a novel by Nick Hornby in which Hugh Grant plays a self-centered playboy who starts to become a better person after meeting a misfit 14-year-old with a depressed and suicidal mother. There's some strong language (including two uses of "f--k"), including profanity used by teenagers. Some sexual references (Will is an unabashed love-'em-and-leave-'em guy). A parent is clinically depressed and attempts suicide, and her child feels responsible. Another child becomes hysterical about the prospect of his mother dating. Marcus' mother fears that Will has an improper interest in Marcus. There are some brief molestation insinuations. Characters drink and smoke.

To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

"F--k." "F--king hell." "S--t." Kids say "s--t," "piss off," "crap" British slang like "bollocks." Molestation insinuations.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Suicide attempt by one character who swallows pills, is shown passed out on a couch. Marcus is harassed/bullied by boys at school-- they kick a soccer ball that hits him in the head, chase him down the street, throw candy at his head. Lead character hit in head with an apple.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Main character's father is shown as an alcoholic, but only in a brief flashback. Beer and wine drinking at holidays or at dinner. Cigarette smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sexual references -- main character starts as a cad. Mild sex talk between teenagers.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Will cares a lot about fancy products/brands. He purchases a pair of Sketchers shoes for Marcus in the hopes of making him fit in with his classmates. Talk between a mom and son about going to McDonald's to eat a Big Mac.

Positive Role Models

Main character starts out rather selfish, but ends up caring a great deal about Marcus. He's also caught in a lie and comes clean, even though it hurts his chances with a love interest. Bullies at school pick on Marcus because he's different and Marcus handles it with maturity. Characters demonstrate humility and empathy.

Positive Messages

The shallowness of materialism is shown, as is the emptiness of short-term relationships centered exclusively on sexual gratification; traits like thoughtfulness and consideration are shown to be much more desirable and important. Marcus has the conviction to be a vegetarian, and is willing to sing a song in front of his entire school that he knows will isolate him even further and expose him to ridicule because he believes it will make his mother (who is suffering from depression) happy.

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (5)
• Kids say (18)

Based on 5 parent reviews

Sweet Family Movie

I thought the movie was funny, but much different than what is written in the book. i was expecting to see more of the book in the movie, but that was not the case. i did like the ending in the movie more than i liked the ending in the book., what's the story.

ABOUT A BOY, based on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby , is the story of a shallow man appropriately named Will Freeman ( Hugh Grant ) who wants to live life entirely self-contained with no reason to form attachments of any kind. Will's plan to avoid romantic emotional entanglements: single mothers. He decides it's the perfect relationship; they have low expectations and a sympathetic listener can get pretty far with them. So he pretends to be a single parent himself, makes up a 2-year-old son, and attends a support group in order to meet them. At a group picnic, Will meets a 14-year-old named Marcus ( Nicholas Hoult ). Marcus is isolated but does not want to be. His single mother is severely depressed and even the outcasts at school think he is too much of a dork to hang out with. Marcus just shows up at Will's home every afternoon to watch television and ultimately insists on becoming the closest thing to a friend that Will has ever known.

Is It Any Good?

The plot may sound like manipulative claptrap from a made-for-TV movie, but the theme has so much appeal that even a lousy script and poor production values can't completely destroy it. But when it's done well -- or even very, very well, as it is here -- it turns into a purely satisfying and enjoyable film.

We know from Bridget Jones's Diary and even Small Time Crooks that Hugh Grant relishes playing a cad. Freed from the obligation to be the perfect boyfriend of Notting Hill -type movies, he gives us a superb performance of great honesty and subtlety and flawless comedy timing. There is a lot in About a Boy for teens and parents to enjoy and discuss.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the roles of friendship and other relationships in About a Boy and in our lives. Why is it important to Will not to have any relationships? Why are the kids in school so mean to Marcus? How does Will's relationship with Marcus make him more interested in one with Rachel?

How are Will and Marcus alike, and how are they different? Is it right for Marcus to believe that it's his responsibility to make his mother feel better? What kind of grown-up will Marcus be? How does helping Marcus change Will's feelings about him?

Talk about the definition of "girlfriend" that Will and Marcus discuss -- and Marcus' idea about the importance of having back-up.

Talk about depression and its causes and treatments. What can you do if you or someone you know is depressed?

How does Will learn empathy and humility in About a Boy ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 17, 2002
• On DVD or streaming : January 14, 2003
• Cast : Hugh Grant , Nicholas Hoult , Toni Collette
• Directors : Chris Weitz , Paul Weitz
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Book Characters , Music and Sing-Along
• Character Strengths : Empathy , Humility
• Run time : 102 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : brief strong language and some thematic elements
• Last updated : April 25, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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About a Boy Reviews

A funny, insightful, sweet film

Full Review | Jan 8, 2024

The film has tremendous star power, added to this fact, it's a remarkably warm and witty film, filmed with unique creativity and visual gusto, and a catchy soundtrack.

Full Review | Jun 12, 2021

The splendid effectiveness of 'About a Boy' lies fully in the precise work of adaptation that the Weitz brothers make of the original text. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Sep 4, 2019

In print. Hornby's story was lapped up by women. On screen, it looks likes the worst kind of unconvincing, unfelt schmaltz, and faintly misogynist in the subordination of its female characters to the needs of its male star. Come back, Richard Curtis.

Full Review | Jan 29, 2018

While the movie has some awkwardly executed scenes and slow spots... this is a comedy with a heart... It's funny, it's smart, it's poignant - and it's set on Planet Earth.

Full Review | May 24, 2017

...a thoroughly average piece of work...

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 17, 2015

Even people who don't usually like Hugh Grant will be charmed by him in the scrappy, slightly scandalous comedy About a Boy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 10, 2014

The directors Paul and Chris Weitz -- the American Pie brothers -- have tried hard not to make a tearjerker, and at its best the movie is knowing and tart.

Full Review | Feb 10, 2014

If the story gets dangerously thin, Grant is pretty well flawless. And Collette, always good, is heartbreakingly believable.

About a Boy is truly a love story, with dialogue and a story line that's both pop and universally timeless, which is gold for moviegoers.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 10, 2014

This is a pleasingly skewed Britcom that can be watched with mates or the other half. And, boy, is it funny.

Genuinely funny and moving, this is both an endearing examination of masculinity and a challenge to male isolationism.

Grant's puckishness has become overly packaged; what's new about him here is his spiky hairdo. This movie is built on an actor as well as a character who is too intent to be on his best behavior.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 10, 2014

Mainstream comedies should all be this funny and tender and deftly performed.

Grant, seeming to get better the further he's allowed to extend his range, delivers a terrific central performance, as acerbic but more complex than his sexy snake in Bridget Jones.

Hugh Grant hilariously redefines the word "playboy" in the first half of this film, then gets human, without losing his comic edge, under the influence of the title waif.

About a Boy is better than a feelgood movie, it's a feelgreat movie -- genuinely clever, affecting when you least expect it to be and funny from start to finish.

Compared to High Fidelity, the book and the movie, About A Boy seems resolutely uncool.... But part of growing up may be admitting that such familiar comforts can also be immensely satisfying.

About a Boy is an amusing film, full of bright lines and clever observation.

This charming coming of age comedy, a tale with heart and social message, offers Hugh Grant his best role to date.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Mar 18, 2013

ABOUT A BOY

"bandaging emptiness and selfishness".

What You Need To Know:

ABOUT A BOY stars Hugh Grant as Will, a single guy living off the royalties from a Christmas jingle his father had written. Will’s his resulting life of fast cars, cool apartments and elusive schedules suits him just fine. Believing that single moms are a safe group, he lands a date with one, who introduces him to Marcus, the troubled pre-teen son of her best friend. Due to strange and darkly comical circumstances, “heaven” throws Will and Marcus together, and the troubled perspectives of each are quickly challenged. Will gives Marcus this advice: “Try to stay invisible.” When one of Will’s secrets is discovered, Marcus becomes even more enmeshed in Will’s life. He challenges his friend’s selfishness at a whole new level.

Filled with excessive foul language, ABOUT A BOY is a well-made but dark study on the futility of human effort and reasoning without the hope based in a relationship with the One True Savior, Jesus Christ. The movie explores many grave issues such as the helplessness of the depressed, the problems of single parents, the loneliness of self-absorption, and the pessimism and despair of superficial relationships. Its solution, however, is humanistic.

(HH, Ro, PC, Ho, LLL, VV, S, A, D, M) Highly humanistic worldview depicting the despair, emptiness and self-focus of a life without Christ; Romantic worldview elements with relativistic, emotion-based choices made; politically correct portrayals of strong vegetarianism theme & language suggesting that “couples are not the future; you need backup (in families, due to divorce)”; homosexual subplot; strong language with roughly 56 obscenities and 6 profanities (though some of the British slang was difficult to categorize); violence includes the depiction of the after-effects of suicide; allusions to fornication, but nothing shown & veiled discussion of and false accusations of a possible homosexual affair; no nudity; several scenes showing alcohol, drug and tobacco use; and, lots of lying, character fights depression and suicide and child forced to care for his unstable, suicidal mother.

More Detail:

ABOUT A BOY begins with Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) declaring that Jon Bon Jovi was wrong when he said, “No man is an island.” Will is a late-thirty-something single guy living off the royalties from a Christmas jingle his estranged father had written decades earlier. His resulting life of fast cars, cool apartments and elusive schedules suits him just fine. He admits that even island dwellers must visit the mainland from time to time, however, so he dates a few gals that will not expect any commitment from him. Soon, he discovers that the best group of gals to date is the single moms group. These ladies, he reasons, live lives too volatile to enable them to settle down, and therefore they are safe targets for an islander.

Will’s cousins soon ask him to be the godfather of their new baby girl. Will answers that he would rather eat a diaper. He explains what a horrid godfather he would be in that there is absolutely no point to his life and no feelings for children whatsoever. The cousins are stunned and say, “We thought you had hidden depths.” Will denies it, saying, “No, I’m actually really this shallow!” Later, he tells himself, “You have to mean things to help people. I didn’t mean anything to anyone or care about anyone. That guaranteed me a long, depression-free life.”

Following his quest to have “guiltless, passionate sex with single moms,” Will signs up for a support group called “S.P.A.T,” or “Single Parents Alone Together,” where he pretends to have a young son. He lands a date with one of the moms, and they go out on a picnic. The young mom not only brings her own toddler, but she has invited Marcus (Nicholas Hault), the troubled pre-teen son of her best friend, Fiona, a lady continually fighting depression and suicide.

Due to some strange and somewhat darkly comical sets of circumstances, “heaven” throws Will and Marcus together, and the troubled perspectives of each are quickly challenged. As Marcus shares his school dilemmas, Will gives him this advice: “Try to stay invisible,” which is obviously his own philosophy of life. When one of Will’s secrets is discovered, Marcus becomes even more enmeshed in Will’s life, and he challenges his friend at a whole new level.

When Will starts truly falling for a great lady, Marcus has the power to make or break the relationship. When some things in Marcus’s life start falling apart, Will must decide whether or not he has the depth to recognize and care about the things that mean something to others when they have no bearing on his own life. He must decide whether to risk the loss of his personal interests in order to save his new friend or revert back to his old selfish islander ways.

Filled with excessive foul language, ABOUT A BOY is a great but dark study on the futility of human effort and reasoning without the hope based in a relationship with the One True Savior, Jesus Christ. The movie explores many grave issues such as the helplessness of the depressed, the parental inversion trap of a child taking care of his own mother, the loneliness of self-absorption, the lies that the world system espouses, and the relativism of no-commitment relationships that leads to pessimism and despair.

Though well-acted and pithy at times, the movie is heavy and hopeless, even with the story’s solution to “get real and get involved” in the lives of others. That solution does not go far enough. Though finding realness and selflessness in relationships is wonderful, the human heart cup will never be truly satisfied outside the loving embrace of the Lord. To have our personal identity in cars, money, prestige, or even real relationships always falls short in the end. Relationships are often for a season, and the world system can never give us lasting peace. As believers, our identity rests in the fact that we abide in the heart of a God that adores us, and from that position springs lasting and overflowing hope for the human heart.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Metacritic reviews

About a boy.

• 90 Slate David Edelstein Slate David Edelstein It's irresistible, damn it. Mainstream comedies should all be this funny and tender and deftly performed.
• 90 Washington Post Desson Thomson Washington Post Desson Thomson Hilarious, touching and wonderfully dyspeptic.
• 89 Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov About a Boy knows exactly what it wants to do: It wants to make you smile, and grin, and then laugh with recognition, and it manages all three, again and again.
• 88 USA Today Claudia Puig USA Today Claudia Puig About a Boy is a rarity in many ways. It's a well-written, witty film whose memorable characters grapple with the nature of family, love, friendship and despair. Even its soundtrack, by Badly Drawn Boy, is perfectly pitched.
• 88 Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert We have all the action heroes and Method script-chewers we need right now, but the Cary Grant department is understaffed, and Hugh Grant shows here that he is more than a star, he is a resource.
• 83 Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman Hugh Grant has grown up, holding on to his lightness and witty cynicism but losing the stuttering sherry-club mannerisms that were once his signature. In doing so, he has blossomed into the rare actor who can play a silver-tongued sleaze with a hidden inner decency.
• 80 Chicago Reader J.R. Jones Chicago Reader J.R. Jones Illuminating with their energy and wit.
• 80 New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of About a Boy is how substantial it plays -- as a feel-good film with weight, a knowing comedy with dramatic depth.
• 75 New York Daily News Jami Bernard New York Daily News Jami Bernard A comedy hit, but its secret is that it delves deeper than the usual summer fare.
• 60 Variety Derek Elley Variety Derek Elley Pleasant and engaging, rather than laugh-out-loud funny or emotionally involving.
• See all 38 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for About a Boy

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