About a Boy (2002)

A cynical, immature young man is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy.

Directors:

Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz

Writers:

Nick Hornby (novel), Peter Hedges (screenplay)

Stars:

Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Grant	...	Will Freeman
Nicholas Hoult	...	Marcus Brewer
Sharon Small	...	Christine
Madison Cook	...	Imogen
Jordan Cook	...	Imogen
Nicholas Hutchison	...	John
Ryan Speechley	...	Barney
Joseph Speechley	...	Barney
Toni Collette	...	Fiona Brewer
Natalia Tena	...	Ellie (as Nat Gastiain Tena)
Laura Kennington	...	Ellie's Friend
Tanika Swaby	...	Ellie's Friend
Peter McNicholl	...	Ellie's Friend
Christopher Webster	...	Ellie's Friend
Ben Ridgeway	...	Lee

Storyline

Twelve year old Marcus Brewer lives with his chronically depressed single mother, Fiona Brewer. Both Fiona and Marcus beat to their own respective drummers. Marcus will do whatever he can to make his depressed mother happy, even if it causes himself grief. As such, he realizes that he is perceived as different than most kids, as even the self-professed weird kids don't want to hang out with him as he is the target of bullying. Part of the taunts against him are the fact that he sings and speaks to himself without even realizing that he is doing it. Meanwhile, thirty-eight year old Will Freeman is a slacker who has lived comfortably off the royalties of a song written by his deceased father, and as such has never had to work a day in his life. He is a solitary man who places himself as the first and only priority in life. He comes across the idea that dating single moms meets his selfish carnal needs. It is in this capacity that Will meets Marcus, as one of Will's single mother ...

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Plot Keywords:

friend | boy | single mother | imaginary son | single father | 

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Taglines:

Growing up has nothing to do with age.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Universal Pictures [United States]

Country:

UK USA France Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pour un garçon

Filming Locations:

HMV Oxford Circus, Oxford Street, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£3,747,966 (UK) (26 April 2002)

Gross:

$40,566,655 (USA) (12 July 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Tribeca Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much is made of the fact that Hugh Grant lives off the royalties of his father's song, and doesn't have to work at all. In real life, Victoria Smurfit is the daughter of Dermot Smurfit, who has a personal wealth of over 70m, and is a majority shareholder in the Smurfit Group, one of Ireland's largest companies, and probably doesn't need to work either.

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Goofs

Will doesn't fit in the coffee holder in the espresso machine correctly, but still manages to make a cup of coffee.

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Quotes

Marcus: I got the letter. Thanks.
Fiona: Oh my God. I'd forgotten.
Marcus: You forgot? You forgot a suicide letter?
Fiona: Well I didn't think I'd have to remember it, did I? Did you read the part where I said I'd always love you?
Marcus: It's a bit hard for you to love me when you're dead, isn't it?

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Connections

Referenced in iZombie: Flight of the Living Dead (2015)

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Soundtracks

Rainy Days And Mondays
By Roger Nichols (as Nichols) and Paul Williams (as Williams)
Performed by Alexandra Hill

User Reviews

Wonderful book, wonderful movie - gotta love Nick Hornby!

This movie really came as a surprise to me. I had read the book shortly before I saw it and when I heard Hugh Grant was going to star and the Weitz brothers were chosen to direct I didn't exactly have high hopes. I thought "American Pie" was funny and all but this kind of story demanded someone more mature, someone clever. This movie, however, turned out to be all that: mature, clever, witty, sensible, honest and, most of all, really funny in such a natural way. Hugh Grant has never been better in any role before or since and the soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy is just perfect for the movie. The only thing they overdid a little was Toni Collette's character. I've never seen a person like that in real life. What I did like was the way they changed the ending for the movie. Usually that's not a good idea but it totally worked here. After all, I still liked "High Fidelity" a tiny bit better (the movie, not the book), but "About A Boy" comes very close. If you are just as much a fan of this book/movie as I am, get the DVD. There are wonderful deleted scenes on it, which are as funny as the rest of the movie.