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About a Boy
MCA/Universal Pictures
FILM:
MUSIC:
MPAA 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)
| GENRE(S): |
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Peter Hedges
Chris Weitz
Paul Weitz
Nick Hornby (novel)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Chris Weitz
Paul Weitz
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: January 14, 2003
Video: January 14, 2003
Theatrical: May 17, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
102 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
UK / USA |
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...
100
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.
100
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.
90
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
Sophisticated and nuanced, and every character is bursting with emotional contradictions.
90
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.
90
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.
90
Newsweek
David Ansen
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.
90
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
Hilarious, touching and wonderfully dyspeptic.
89
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
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
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.
88
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The summer movie season has barely begun, and already we have its first big surprise.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
The film is a sharp, funny, touching tale.
88
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.
83
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
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.
80
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Illuminating with their energy and wit.
80
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.
80
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.
75
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.
75
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.
75
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.
75
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.
75
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
Hilarious, acidic Brit comedy.
75
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.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
A comedy hit, but its secret is that it delves deeper than the usual summer fare.
70
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.
70
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.
70
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.
63
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.
63
Boston Globe
Renee Graham
Renders what should have been a wholly entertaining film into a timid, soggy near miss.
60
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."
60
Variety
Derek Elley
Pleasant and engaging, rather than laugh-out-loud funny or emotionally involving.
60
Film Threat
Michael Dequina
Will warm your heart without making you feel guilty about it.
60
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]
50
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
There's not much more to this adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel than charm -- effortless, pleasurable, featherweight charm.
30
Village Voice
Jessica Winter
Since the central odd couple have no rapport, their bond never seems to progress past mutual usury.
25
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!
 The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 51 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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