About a Boy (2002)

As a reviewer of film, I am qualified to treat every genre neutrally. And I do my best to do so. I don’t have a reluctance to watch horror films, and I don’t automatically write off drama films as boring artsy films. I do my best to follow these rules, and many others that I do not care to get into right now. Either way, I still am allowed to have a favorite genre (to my knowledge), and I’m pretty sure that would be the comedy-drama genre. And of course, I am only talking about the films that are done well; the films that make me laugh and cry at the same time. Films like Juno, Forrest Gump, Persepolis, and now, About a Boy. Based off of the novel of the same name, About a Boy tells the story of a man named Will (Hugh Grant) who does nothing for a living. Yes. His father wrote a famous song many years ago, and he is living on the royalties to this day. He is also of the womanizing type, and finds that his favorite type of woman to win over is the single mother. In his master plan for doing so, he goes to a ‘single parents’ meeting, and invents a fake son. He meets Fiona (Toni Collette), a depressed and suicidal mother, and her son Marcus (Nicholas Hoult). Marcus takes a liking to Will, and even after he finds out that his son is fake, he keeps the secret and tries to get him to hook up with his mother, in order to keep her from having a successful suicide attempt. Now, this film sounds so dark from what I am saying, but it really isn’t. It takes the dark outline and layers it with smart humor that keeps the film light, enjoyable, and a great film to watch. And this is a great film to watch. I highly recommend this film. It is both funny, tragic, sweet and sour. I wish there were more movies like this in the world. If there were more movies like this in the world, the world would be better. These movies are movies that help people; these are keeper-uppers that I watch when I’m sad to boost me up. They deal with serious issues, and sprinkle them with comedy. Yes. Movies can make the world better. Movies like About a Boy can make the world better.
9/10