About a Boy
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 38
  3. Negative: 2 out of 38
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  1. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    100
    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.
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  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    100
    That rare romantic comedy that dares to choose messiness over closure, prickly independence over fetishized coupledom, and honesty over typical Hollywood endings.
  3. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    90
    As close to mainstream perfection as I've seen all year. It gives us everything we want, need and deserve without batting an eye.
  4. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    90
    Sophisticated and nuanced, and every character is bursting with emotional contradictions.
  5. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    90
    Movie purists will tell you that a heavy reliance on voice-over is a sin (“show, don’t tell”), but when the words are this funny, to hell with purity.
    All this critic's reviews
  6. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    90
    It's irresistible, damn it. Mainstream comedies should all be this funny and tender and deftly performed.
  7. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    90
    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.
    All this critic's reviews
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    90
    Hilarious, touching and wonderfully dyspeptic.
  9. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    89
    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.
  10. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    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.
  11. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Mark Caro
    88
    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.
  12. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    88
    The summer movie season has barely begun, and already we have its first big surprise.
  13. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    The film is a sharp, funny, touching tale.
  14. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    88
    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.
  15. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    83
    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.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 78 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 50
  3. Negative: 0 out of 50
  1. grandpajoe6191
    8
    The original book was witty, ingenious, smart, and cheerful. It had life and power in every page. The characters were humorous and charismatic. Everything was great. Hey, what about the movie "About a Boy"? Fabulous, and even better than the book.… Full Review »
  2. StevenF
    8
    It's eccentric, often crude, and seamlessly silly, but About A Boy finds its stride at the forefront of most non-commital men, children.
    Hugh     Grant has left his stammering,stuttering baby-face like persona back home and s extremely confident and funny as the free-wheeling and hedonistic bachelor Will, a man living off his fathers one hit wonder Christmas song, and this film picks up through the central character trying to pick up women at SPAT (Single Parents Alone Together). Through this, he runs into the weird and wonderfully blank Marcus, (the debut of Nicholas Hoult). What follows is a simply hilarious chain events where Marcus appears to be the only person privy to Wills plans and so begins to visit him everyday after school to just socialise (and watch Countdown) and even discuss girl problems, a 12 year old versus a 38 year old. The story is told through a double narration from both Marcus and Will, attempting to clarify and explain their friendship with each other, from Marcus continuing struggles with his suicidal mother (the excellent Toni Collette) and Will's attempt to start a relationship with Rachel (Rachel Weisz).
    This film deals with all the typical problems seen in a dysfunctional lifestyle, which in turn shows to be quite a frequent theme in most peoples lives, troublesome children, marriage, sex, single parents, it all appears in a light-hearted attempt to show the trial and error ways of dealing with children, mid-life crisis etc.
    With a wonderfully ridiculous climax, this film will indeed play on the heartstrings in mild-mannered fashion that only a British comedy can deliver, it has all the great performances, particularly the two leads, a stepping out of the comfort zone Hugh Grant is especially convincing as the care-free bachelor but it was young Nicholas Hoult, whose career undoubtedly went from strength to strength after this role, stole the show as the young, confused, but not so naive Marcus, who takes no bull from anyone, typically as most children are, but a lot of nerve would have had to go into accepting that role and he embraced it with every fibre. Another excellently delivered British flick that will not fail to amuse a wider variety of audiences, whether its coming-of-age or simple twists on a rom-com, definitely worth watching.    … Full Review »
  3. Eleni
    6
    I have to admit that when any adaptation manages to stand side by side as an equal with the novel, it surprises me. â
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