About a Boy

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CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="495"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="495" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>About a Boy </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêêê</B></FONT><B>  </B> (PG-13 ) </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By Demetrius Payne</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="575" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Growing up has nothing to do with age</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Hugh Grant: Will Freeman</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Toni Collette: Fiona</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Rachel Weisz: Rachel</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Nicholas Hoult: Marcus</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Directors: Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: Britain's smash hit movie is surprisingly good.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Hugh Grant sheds his lovable, good-guy image (and some hair) to play a totally self-centered 38-year-old slacker who gets lessons in maturity from a 12-year-old.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: Most of my life, I didn't really like<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT>or just didn't get<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT>British imported television and film. Of course, when I was young I loved Benny Hill but that's mostly because for a little kid going through puberty, Benny Hill was like porn! But for the most part I never understood why I didn't understand English comedy<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT>what were they saying? What the heck does "bloody" mean? No, I don't want you to "phone me on the telly"…CALL ME! And what is their word for cigarettes again? They do speak the same language don't they?</div> <div>      </div> <div> Then there were other reservations I had about seeing this movie, like the title. I didn't know if I was going to see a motivational film for Catholic priests or what. My main reservation however, was the film's </div> <bR> <bR> <div> star, Hugh Grant. You see when I reviewed "Hollywood Ending," Woody Allen's latest movie, I was very critical of all the similarities between his films, bordering on being unoriginal. For those same reasons, I could be very critical of just about all of Hugh Grant's films. Hugh plays the self-deprecating British character in all of his movies, from "4 Weddings and a Funeral" to "9 Months." He's always the floppy-haired Brit, cracking wise. Well, in "About A Boy" he sheds the coif (and looks a lot like a lesbian in my opinion) and instead of being self-<I>deprecating</I> he is totally self-<I><B>centered</B></I>. </div> <bR> <div> Grant's character Will is single, 38 and living off the royalties of the song his father wrote 44 years ago. He has never had a relationship or job last more than a few months. We're talking about a guy who is so shallow (and not the least bit embarrassed about it) he <I>makes up</I> having a 2-year-old son, so he can pick-up single mothers at a single-parents support group. Had he not done that however, he would have never met the one person who would change his life forever; no, it's not some good-looking, big-hearted single mom, who wants to love him for who he is, it's a 12-year-old boy named Marcus (Nicholas Hoult). </div> <bR> <div> It's almost natural that Marcus serves as a life-changer for Will; he's already more mature than the 38-year-old. The relationship develops, as dependency and enlightenment take the place of them actually having to like each other. What it all comes down to is that Will has spent most of his life caring about no one else but himself and Marcus has spent his life trying to make his mother (Toni Collette) happy. The bottom line that this movie delivers is that "no man's an island" and it also reminds us that living for other people will hurt you more than it helps them. "About a Boy" is well written, well acted and one of very few movies that has the guts to show men as being as emotionally screwed up and saddled with baggage as women. All the performances in this film are great and Grant was particularly strong. If sell-out lines for <I><B>Star Wars</B></I> and <B>S</B><I><B>pider Man </B></I>are too much for you to bear, go check out this film; you will not be disappointed.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Rated PG-13 for some brief strong language</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Demetrius Payne</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="houseopayne1@hotmail.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="houseopayne1@hotmail.com"><U><U>houseopayne1@hotmail.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="286"><div> Hugh Grant- <I><B>Bridget Jones Diary</B></I>, Notting Hill</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Toni Collette-<I><B>Shaft, Changing Lanes</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="286"><div> Rachel Weisz- The Mummy, <I><B>The Mummy Pt. 2</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Nicholas Hoult-The Fallen Curtin (TV)</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="286"><div> Director-Chris Weitz- <I><B>Nutty Professor 2</B></I> (screenplay)</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Director Paul Weitz- Antz</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>