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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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79
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64
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69
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You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
About a Boy
EMAILPRINTMCA/Universal Pictures

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 38 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 53 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by:
Peter Hedges
Chris Weitz
Paul Weitz
Nick Hornby (novel)
Directed by:
Chris Weitz
Paul Weitz
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 17, 2002
DVD: January 14, 2003
Running Time: 102 minutes, Color
Origin: UK / USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for brief strong language and some thematic elements
Starring Hugh Grant, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Isabel Brook, Sharon Small, Victoria Smurfit, Nicholas Hoult, and Nicholas Hutchison
About a Boy is about a man (Grant) -- a handsome, rich, shallow, self-absorbed, irresistible cad -- and the unexpected relationship he develops with a boy he meets while trying to pick up another boy's mother. (Universal Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: American Dreamz American Pie Cirque Du Freak Down to Earth In Good Company The Golden Compass
MUSIC: About A Boy Soundtrack
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
That rare romantic comedy that dares to choose messiness over closure, prickly independence over fetishized coupledom, and honesty over typical Hollywood endings.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
The timing and cutting of the film are terrific, the build-up to an absurdly hilarious climax is just right, and the performances are near perfect.
New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Sophisticated and nuanced, and every character is bursting with emotional contradictions.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
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.
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
As close to mainstream perfection as I've seen all year. It gives us everything we want, need and deserve without batting an eye.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
Movie purists will tell you that a heavy reliance on voice-over is a sin (show, dont tell), but when the words are this funny, to hell with purity.
Slate David Edelstein
It's irresistible, damn it. Mainstream comedies should all be this funny and tender and deftly performed.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The summer movie season has barely begun, and already we have its first big surprise.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
It's funny, moving and true, and it respects the audience's intelligence as much as the characters'. That combination, no matter the movie's label, deserves to be treasured.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
The New York Times Dana Stevens
The Weitz brothers -- notorious as the authors of the "American Pie" series -- handle the sentimentality of the story with a light, sweet touch.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Few scenarios are more cliched than the curmudgeonly father-figure who takes in the precocious imp -- irritation in the first two acts, love in the third -- but Hornby infuses it with warmth and honesty, not to mention his obvious gift for wry observation.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Hugh Grant is one of the true phenomena of new millennium moviemaking. In an era in which the broadest and most scatological comedy imaginable rules, he's built a career for himself as a sophisticated light comedian very much in the style of his hero, David Niven.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The love that blooms is essentially between the boys. They both have some considerable growing up to do, but theirs is a true romance and it's awfully sweet. Funny, too.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Not a daring film, but it is immensely likable. Every once in a while, a movie comes along that, despite traversing familiar terrain, is made with enough all-around skill that it overcomes its clichéd origins. About a Boy is such a movie.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
In addition to being a smart comedy and an excellent showcase for Grant, it's an honest movie about childhood that avoids sappiness and sentiment and goes in unexpected directions.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
If the brothers Weitzes) don't yet have a defined style, they do seem at ease with this more sophisticated material.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A comedy hit, but its secret is that it delves deeper than the usual summer fare.
Film Threat Rich Cline
As these characters all move from isolated loners to relying on each other, the film never pounds its point in -- even the big set pieces are slightly askance, just giving more insight into the characters without preaching.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The acid comedy of Grant's performance carries the film. It helps also that newcomer Hoult is that rare child actor who mercifully underplays the pathos of his role.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Because a gradually thawing Will plays more to Grant's strengths, the second part of the film, helped as well by Rachel Weisz as a love interest, is much more fun. But it is still hard not to feel that this film is pushing us too hard, slickly trying to seem more honest than it actually is.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
It's hard to stomp on a movie that pulls together a rich lay-about, hippies, a punk girl and an Amnesty International worker in a sort of Peaceable Kingdom, but About a Boy shows the limits of affability.
Boston Globe Renee Graham
Renders what should have been a wholly entertaining film into a timid, soggy near miss.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Tanya L. Edwards
Wickedly funny and surprisingly sweet film may be the perfect star vehicle for Grant. He's full of piss and vinegar and has at long last set aside the wobbly, stammering persona best left at "Four Weddings and a Funeral."
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
Pleasant and engaging, rather than laugh-out-loud funny or emotionally involving.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Michael Dequina
Will warm your heart without making you feel guilty about it.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
The other Grant, the irresistible but slippery Cary, was called to account by such strenuous and willful mates as Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, and Ingrid Bergman. But Hugh Grant has never been matched with a woman who directly challenged his oddly recessive charm. [3 June 2002, p. 100]
LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
There's not much more to this adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel than charm -- effortless, pleasurable, featherweight charm.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
Since the central odd couple have no rapport, their bond never seems to progress past mutual usury.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Was this spiritless stuff really directed by Paul and Chris Weitz of "American Pie" fame? How the rebels have mellowed!
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 53 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Buddhamind gave it a6:
It's nice enough to sit through all the way. I found myself faintly smiling now and then, but it never makes you laugh out loud. Nor does it really hit the heart in any way. Strange, because the story has the potential. The main character who lives all his life superficially, suddenly finding himself having a real, loving connection with some people. Shouldn't that be story enough for a tissue or two?
Jeremy K gave it a6:
A light, fun "feel good" movie and that's the extent of it. Hugh Grant carries the film as he is an interesting likable fellow to watch writhe and simultaneously ham it up on screen. Will appeal to those looking for light not-too-dumb fare with a bit of crowd pleasing charm and humor. But that's the extent of it. It is not bad, nor is it very good.
Susan L. gave it a9:
A self-absorbed metrosexual becomes human. A wonderful exploration of masculinity in a post-feminist age.
Sam D. gave it a6:
Good acting, decent plot, somewhat funny, but it could get tedious and slow at times.
Mike G. gave it a4:
Movie had a lot of potential, but just fell apart at the end, as it veered too far away from Hugh Grant's character and started meandering all over the place. It felt more manipulative and cheap than heartfelt, and never really made me believe that Hugh Grant had suddenly turned some sort of magical corner. The problem with the movie is the problem with nearly all of Hornby's books - we're supposed to believe that the characters turn a corner but don't completely come around the bend. This works much better in his novels than in the three movie adaptations there have been of his novels thus far. On the screen the "he's sort of a good guy, but not quite" just doesn't leave you feeling complete when you leave the theater.
Michael M. gave it a9:
Quality film throughout!
Susan M. gave it a9:
This movie is so great, a nice story with humour and sadness, and is Hugh Grant not the cutest thing ever? I've seen it 3 times now!!
